Early Cretaceous volcanism in the Scotian Basin 1This article is one of a series of papers published in this CJES Special Issue on the theme of Mesozoic–Cenozoic geology of the Scotian Basin.

2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (12) ◽  
pp. 1523-1539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah J. Bowman ◽  
Georgia Pe-Piper ◽  
David J.W. Piper ◽  
Robert A. Fensome ◽  
Edward L. King

Early Cretaceous volcanism is widespread in the eastern Scotian Basin. The stratigraphic position of volcanic rocks within wells was re-evaluated and the volcanological character of the rocks was refined by study of cuttings and well logs. Hauterivian–Barremian volcanic rocks on the SW Grand Banks and Aptian–Albian volcanic rocks in the Orpheus Graben and SE Scotian Shelf resulted from Strombolian type eruptions. More extensive Hawaiian type flows were mapped from seismic profiles near the Mallard and Brant wells on the SW Grand Banks and they appear to have been derived from local basement highs with a positive magnetic anomaly interpreted as volcanic centres. Igneous rocks in the Hesper well on the SE Scotian Shelf are the erosional remnant of basaltic flows that terminated at the paleoshoreline. They correlate with basalt flows both in extensive outcrop on Scatarie Ridge and in several Orpheus Graben wells. The interpretation of the Hesper basalts as an erosional remnant of more extensive basalt flows is consistent with detrital petrographic evidence for substantial uplift of the inboard part of the Scotian Basin in the Hauterivian–Aptian. Widespread volcanic activity indicates a regional and long-lived magma source, which resulted in elevated regional heat flow. Effects of this heat flow are seen in sedimentary rocks of the Sable Subbasin and it had a discernable impact on hydrocarbon maturation.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luisa Chavarria ◽  
Camilo Bustamante ◽  
Agustín Cardona ◽  
Germán Bayona

<p>Igneous rocks in magmatic arcs record variations in composition, thermal flux, and subduction dynamics through time. In the Northern Andes, arc magmatism of the Jurassic age registers a complicated history, including the fragmentation of Pangea at the end of the Triassic and the beginning of a new subduction zone in the Jurassic located at the western margin of South America.</p><p>We characterized the crustal thickness variations of the Early Jurassic to Early Cretaceous (194-130 Ma) in plutonic and volcanic rocks of the Northern Andes of Colombia and Ecuador, using trace elements signatures and analyzed the implications of the emplacement conditions during the last stage of the magmatism using Al-in-hornblende thermobarometry and mineral chemistry. Moderate rare earth elements (REE) slopes and depleted heavy REE patterns show that the primary residual magma source was amphibole, but plagioclase and pyroxene were also significant residual phases indicating that the magma source was formed in a crust that varied in thickness from 35-50 km. The La/Yb and Sr/Y crustal quantifications variations indicate that the arc underwent two thickening episodes. The first episode (190 to 180 Ma) is associated with a magmatic event. The second episode (165 to 154 Ma) is related to the shift to an oblique subduction setting and a subsequent collisional event that produced medium P-T metamorphic rocks. In the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous (154-130 Ma), the crust became thinner and, in this scenario, was emplaced the last stage of plutonism with depths that varied from shallow to deep level (until 25.5 km) in the crust.</p>



2010 ◽  
Vol 47 (11) ◽  
pp. 1427-1443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgia Pe-Piper ◽  
David J.W. Piper

Lignites and coals, because of their low sedimentation rates of terrigenous detritus, may preserve a record of volcanic ash fall. Lignite from the Lower Cretaceous Chaswood Formation in central Nova Scotia was studied to identify whether any volcanic ash is present and can be correlated to known Early Cretaceous volcanism in southeastern Canada and adjacent New England. The bulk mineralogy and geochemistry of lignite and lignitic mudstones was determined by X-ray diffraction and whole-rock geochemical analysis of ashed samples; selected samples were examined by electron microprobe and scanning electron microscope. Much of the terrigenous component of some lignites consists of detrital sediments. In some lignites, distinctive rare earth element patterns are due to leaching from monazite and concentration in organic matter. Some lignites, however, lack illite and (or) quartz indicative of detrital sources, but show unusual abundance of stable high-field-strength elements such as Nb, Ta, and Hf, suggesting a volcanic source. Wood or charcoal fragments appear mineralized and diagenetic talc is present. Most of any ash component has been altered to kaolinite. Bulk composition of original ash ranges from basaltic to rhyolitic and matches chemically with subalkaline volcanic rocks on the SW Grand Banks and Orpheus graben. Coeval volcanic rocks on the U.S. continental margin and the New England–Quebec igneous province are more alkaline. Altered ash in lignite in the lower member of the Chaswood Formation correlates with Neocomian volcanism on the SW Grand Banks; and in the middle and upper members with Aptian–Albian volcanism in Orpheus graben.



2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-42
Author(s):  
A. V. Ganelin ◽  
E. V. Vatrushkina ◽  
M. V. Luchitskaya

New geochronological and geochemical data on the age and composition of Cretaceous volcanism of Palyavaam River basin (Central Chukotka, Chauna region) are presented. First complex is composed of rhyolites, ignimbrites and felsic tuffs of Chauna Group of Okhotsk-Chukotka volcanic belt (OCVB). Second complex is represented by volcanic rocks of latite-shoshonite series of Early Cretaceous age, distinguished as Etchikun’ Formation. Its origin is still debatable. Some researchers refer deposits of Etchikun’ Formation to magmatic stage before OCVB activity. Other authors include in Chauna Group composition. Obtained data indicate heterogeneity of Etchikun’ Fomation volcanics and allow to divide them in two groups. Andesites of the first group (Etchikun’ Formation sensu stricto) have Early Cretaceous age and belong to magmatic stage before OCVB activity. Andesites of the second group correlate in age and composition with OCVB volcanic rocks. They occur at the base of Chauna Group and indicate homodromous character of volcanism evolution in the Central-Chukotka of Okhotsk-Chukotka volcanic belt.



2021 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Jia-Hao Jing ◽  
Hao Yang ◽  
Wen-Chun Ge ◽  
Yu Dong ◽  
Zheng Ji ◽  
...  

Abstract Late Mesozoic igneous rocks are important for deciphering the Mesozoic tectonic setting of NE China. In this paper, we present whole-rock geochemical data, zircon U–Pb ages and Lu–Hf isotope data for Early Cretaceous volcanic rocks from the Tulihe area of the northern Great Xing’an Range (GXR), with the aim of evaluating the petrogenesis and genetic relationships of these rocks, inferring crust–mantle interactions and better constraining extension-related geodynamic processes in the GXR. Zircon U–Pb ages indicate that the rhyolites and trachytic volcanic rocks formed during late Early Cretaceous time (c. 130–126 Ma). Geochemically, the highly fractionated I-type rhyolites exhibit high-K calc-alkaline, metaluminous to weakly peraluminous characteristics. They are enriched in light rare earth elements (LREEs) and large-ion lithophile elements (LILEs) but depleted in high-field-strength elements (HFSEs), with their magmatic zircons ϵHf(t) values ranging from +4.1 to +9.0. These features suggest that the rhyolites were derived from the partial melting of a dominantly juvenile, K-rich basaltic lower crust. The trachytic volcanic rocks are high-K calc-alkaline series and exhibit metaluminous characteristics. They have a wide range of zircon ϵHf(t) values (−17.8 to +12.9), indicating that these trachytic volcanic rocks originated from a dominantly lithospheric-mantle source with the involvement of asthenospheric mantle materials, and subsequently underwent extensive assimilation and fractional crystallization processes. Combining our results and the spatiotemporal migration of the late Early Cretaceous magmatic events, we propose that intense Early Cretaceous crust–mantle interaction took place within the northern GXR, and possibly the whole of NE China, and that it was related to the upwelling of asthenospheric mantle induced by rollback of the Palaeo-Pacific flat-subducting slab.





2007 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. P. Simanenko ◽  
S. V. Rasskazov ◽  
T. A. Yasnygina ◽  
A. I. Malinovskii ◽  
A. A. Chashchin


Recent work has determined the depth of the Mohorovičić discontinuity at sea and has made it likely that peridotite xenoliths in basaltic volcanic rocks are samples of material from below the discontinuity. It is now possible to produce a hypothetical section showing the transition from a continent to an ocean. This section is consistent with both the seismic and gravity results. The possible reactions of the crust to changes in the total volume of sea water are dis­cussed. It seems possible that the oceans were shallower and the crust thinner in the Archean than they are now. If this were so, some features of the oldest rocks of Canada and Southern Rhodesia could be explained. Three processes are described that might lead to the formation of oceanic ridges; one of these involves tension, one compression and the other quiet tectonic conditions. It is likely that not all ridges are formed in the same way. It is possible that serpentization of olivine by water rising from the interior of the earth plays an important part in producing changes of level in the ocean floor and anomalies in heat flow. Finally, a method of reducing gravity observations at sea is discussed.



2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
An-Qi Wang ◽  
Debin Yang ◽  
Wen-Liang Xu ◽  
Hao-Tian Yang ◽  
Mao-Song Mu ◽  
...  


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krysten Rutherford ◽  
Katja Fennel

Abstract. The circulation in the northwestern North Atlantic Ocean is highly complex, characterized by the confluence of two major western boundary current systems and several shelf currents. Here we present the first comprehensive analysis of transport paths and timescales for the northwestern North Atlantic shelf, which is useful for estimating ventilation rates, describing circulation and mixing, characterizing the composition of water masses with respect to different source regions, and elucidating rates and patterns of biogeochemical processing, species dispersal and genetic connectivity. Our analysis uses dye and age tracers within a high-resolution circulation model of the region, divided into 9 sub-regions, to diagnose retention times, transport pathways, and transit times. Retention times are shortest on the Scotian Shelf (~ 3 months) where the inshore and shelf-break branches of the coastal current system result in high along-shelf transport to the southwest. Larger retention times are simulated on the Grand Banks (~ 4 months), in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (~ 12 months) and the Gulf of Maine (~ 6 months). Source water analysis shows that Scotian Shelf water is primarily comprised of waters from the Grand Banks and Gulf of St. Lawrence, with varying composition across the shelf. Contributions from the Gulf of St. Lawrence are larger at near-shore locations, whereas locations near the shelf break have larger contributions from the Grand Banks and slope waters. Waters from the deep slope have little connectivity with the shelf, because the shelf-break current inhibits transport across the shelf break. Grand Banks and Gulf of St. Lawrence waters are therefore dominant controls on biogeochemical properties, and on setting and sustaining planktonic communities on the Scotian Shelf.



2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (12) ◽  
pp. 1463-1477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gang Li ◽  
Georgia Pe-Piper ◽  
David J.W. Piper

The tectonic and geomorphological evolution of the Scotian margin and its hinterland is poorly known between Late Triassic rifting and the Early Cretaceous progradation of major deltas. This study determined sedimentary provenance of Middle Jurassic Mohican Formation sandstones from three wells using heavy minerals and mineral chemistry. Indicator minerals such as xenotime, altered ilmenite, and varietal types of garnet and tourmaline are similar to those in Hauterivian–Barremian sandstones in the western Scotian Basin, which are almost exclusively derived from the Meguma terrane. The wells adjacent to the Canso Ridge have more zircon and less ilmenite, indicating a greater contribution of polycyclic reworking, but with an ultimate source in the Meguma terrane. Zircon and ilmenite were likely derived in part from Carboniferous sandstones in eastern mainland Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island. Any river drainage from the inboard terranes of the Appalachians either was diverted through the Fundy Basin or entered the easternmost Scotian Basin, where the Mohican Formation is 5.5 km thick, along the linear continuation of the southwest Grand Banks transform. Such sediment did not reach the Canso Ridge, suggesting that the Cobequid–Chedabucto fault zone in Orpheus graben was not a significant physiographic feature. This tectonically controlled paleogeography in the Middle Jurassic is quite different from that during active rifting in the Late Triassic – Early Jurassic. Middle Jurassic quiescence was followed in the Tithonian – Early Cretaceous by renewed tectonic uplift associated with rifting of Grand Banks from Iberia and Labrador from Greenland.



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