Early Devonian volcanism in the eastern Klamath Mountains, California: evidence for an immature island arc

1985 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 214-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Lapierre ◽  
F. Albarede ◽  
J. Albers ◽  
B. Cabanis ◽  
C. Coulon

The Early Devonian volcanic sequence of the eastern Klamath Mountains (northern California) consists of the Copley Greenstone, a basalt–andesite series, overlain by the Balaklala Rhyolite. All the rocks are metamorphosed to the greenschist facies.The Copley Greenstone consists of massive flows and pyroclastic deposits in the lower part that are overlain by pillow lavas. No sediments are interlayered in the volcanic pile except in the easternmost outcrop area, where sandstones with granitic debris and shaly tuffs are interbedded in the uppermost flows. High-Mg andesites occur only near the top of the basic volcanic succession. The Balaklala Rhyolite is formed of massive flows, breccias, and tuffs.The Copley volcanic rocks, poor in titanium, belong to a low-K tholeiitic suite formed in an island-arc geodynamic environment. The occurrence of olivine with chromium spinels in almost all the lava types, the enrichment in magnesium, chromium, and nickel, and the depletion in hygromagmaphile elements suggest that magmatic differentiation was a marginal process. The Balaklala Rhyolite shows very homogeneous petrographic and geochemical features, characteristic of tholeittic products.From its characteristics here described (pillowed flows, lack of sedimentation, presence of high-Mg andesites and low-K rhyolites, bimodality of the volcanism) the Early Devonian volcanic sequence represents an immature island arc related to a back-arc basin, similar to the present-day Mariana island arc.

1996 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. V. Mikhalsky ◽  
J. W. Sheraton ◽  
A. A. Laiba ◽  
B. V. Beliatsky

Fisher Massif consists of Mesoproterozoic (c. 1300 Ma) lower amphibolite-facies metavolcanic rocks and associated metasediments, intruded by a variety of subvolcanic and plutonic bodies (gabbro to granite). It differs in both composition and metamorphic grade from the rest of the northern Prince Charles Mountains, which were metamorphosed to granulite facies about 1000 m.y. ago. The metavolcanic rocks consist mainly of basalt, but basaltic andesite, andesite, and more felsic rocks (dacite, rhyodacite, and rhyolite) are also common. Most of the basaltic rocks have compositions similar to low-K island arc tholeiites, but some are relatively Nb-rich and more akin to P-MORB. Intermediate to felsic medium to high-K volcanic rocks, which appear to postdate the basaltic succession, have calc-alkaline affinities and probably include a significant crustal component. On the present data, an active continental margin with associated island arc was the most likely tectonic setting for generation of the Fisher Massif volcanic rocks.


1972 ◽  
Vol 109 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Downie ◽  
N. J. Soper

SummaryAn earliest Llanvirn age is established on micropalaeontological grounds for the interbedded lava–pelite sequence at the base of the Binsey Volcanic Formation in the northern Lake District. The northern volcanic sequence, here termed the Eycott Volcanic Group, is earlier than, and chemically distinct from, the main Borrowdale Volcanic Group. The evidence precludes a regional unconformity between the Skiddaw Slates and the overlying volcanic rocks, but is compatible with the hypothesis that the vulcanicity occurred in an island arc environment.


1991 ◽  
Vol 28 (11) ◽  
pp. 1699-1730 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. J. Barrett ◽  
W. H. MacLean ◽  
S. Cattalani ◽  
L. Hoy ◽  
G. Riverin

The Ansil massive sulfide deposit occurs at the contact of the underlying Northwest Rhyolite and the overlying Rusty Ridge Andesite, in the lower part of the Central Mine sequence of the Blake River Group. The orebody, which is roughly ellipsoidal in outline and up to 200 m × 150 m across, contained reserves of 1.58 Mt of massive sulfide grading 7.2% Cu, 0.9% Zn, 1.6 g/t Au, and 26.5 g/t Ag. Production began in 1989. Least-altered host rocks are low-K basaltic andesites and low-K rhyolites. These rocks have Zr/Y ratios of ~5 and LaN/YbN ratios of ~2.3, typical of tholeiitic volcanic rocks, although their major-element chemistry is transitional between tholeiitic and calc-alkaline volcanic rocks.The Ansil deposit, which dips ~50° east, is a single orebody comprising two main massive sulfide lenses (up to ~35 m thick) connected laterally via a thinner blanket of massive sulfides, with thin discontinuous but conformable massive magnetite units at the base and top of the orebody. Sulfide ore consists of massive to banded pyrrhotite–chalcopyrite. In the downplunge lens, up to 10 m of massive magnetite are capped by up to 10 m of massive sulfide. Finely banded cherty tuff, with sphalerite–pyrite–chalcopyrite, forms a discontinuous fringe to the deposit.The two main lenses of massive sulfide have the highest contents of Cu, Ag, and Au and are thought to have formed in areas of major hydrothermal input. Altered feeder zones contain either chlorite + chalcopyrite + pyrrhotite ± magnetite, or chlorite + magnetite ± sulfides. Footwall mineralization forms semiconformable zones ~5–10 m thick that directly underlie the orebody and high-angle pipelike zones that extend at least 50 m into the footwall. Ti–Zr–Al plots indicate that almost all altered footwall rocks were derived from a homogeneous rhyolite precursor. Hanging-wall andesites were also altered. Despite some severe alteration, all initial volcanic rock compositions can be readily identified, and thus mass changes can be calculated. Silica has been both significantly added or removed from the footwall, whereas K has been added except in feeder pipes. Oxygen-isotope compositions up to at least 50 m into the hanging wall and footwall are typically depleted in δ18O by 2–6‰. These rocks have gained Fe + Mg and lost Si. Altered samples in general range from light-rare-earth-element (REE) depleted to light-REE enriched, although some samples exhibit little REE modification despite strong alkali depletion. Mineralized volcanic rocks immediately below the orebody are enriched in Eu (as are some Cu-rich sulfides in the orebody).Contact and petrographic relations generally suggest that the main zone of massive magnetite formed by replacement of cp–po-rich sulfides, although local relations are ambiguous. Magnetite formation may reflect waning hydrothermal activity, during which fluids mixed with seawater and became cooler and more oxidized. Cu-rich feeder pipes that cut magnetite-rich footwall indicate a renewal of Cu-sulfide mineralization after magnetite deposition. Chloritic zones with disseminated sulfides occur up to a few hundred metres above the orebody, attesting to continuing hydrothermal activity.


1987 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 1053-1063 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Baldwin ◽  
E. C. Syme ◽  
H. V. Zwanzig ◽  
T. M. Gordon ◽  
P. A. Hunt ◽  
...  

Two ages of magmatism have been determined from zircon in felsic flows and plutons in the Churchill Province of Manitoba. A rhyolite flow from the Lynn Lake metavolcanic belt has a U–Pb age of [Formula: see text], and a rhyolite flow from the adjacent Rusty Lake metavolcanic belt has an age of [Formula: see text]. Tonalite and quartz diorite from two composite plutons emplaced into the volcanic rocks at Lynn Lake have ages of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], indistinguishable from the age of the Rusty Lake belt rhyolite. The arcuate domain of metavolcanic rocks that includes the Rusty Lake belt in the southeast, the Lynn Lake belt in the north, and the La Ronge belt (Saskatchewan) in the southwest has previously been considered a single structural sub-province with similar ages throughout. Our results and published U–Pb ages from Saskatchewan indicate that an older magmatism is represented by volcanic rocks in the Lynn Lake belt; a younger magmatism, by volcanic rocks in the Rusty Lake and La Ronge belts and plutons in the Lynn Lake belt. At Lynn Lake the older magmatism (1910 Ma) produced mafic, intermediate, and felsic volcanic rocks and synvolcanic plutons. The volcanic rocks are geochemically similar to Cenozoic island-arc magmatic sequences. These rocks were isoclinally folded and subsequently intruded by the 1876 Ma plutons. The younger, dominantly subaerial, volcanism (1878 Ma) at Rusty Lake was predominantly felsic, and the coeval plutons were granitoid. The distribution of ages and the 8 km thickness of the younger volcanic sequence suggest that the older rock served as basement during the younger magmatism.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaofeng Wei ◽  
Hao Wei ◽  
Zhen Liao ◽  
Zhiwei Wang ◽  
Dong Li ◽  
...  

A large number of intermediate basic volcanic rocks and porphyry Cu-Mo deposits as well as volcanic-hosted magnetite deposit have been recently discovered in the Xilekuduk area. However, no reports concerning petrogenesis and age or their relationship with mineralization have been published to date. The purpose of this study was to make up for the absence of previous studies on Devonian volcanic activities in the area and to confirm the relationship between two stages of volcanic activities and mineralization so as to provide important theoretical basis for mineral exploration. Based on research results of zircon U-Pb geochronology and element geochemistry of volcanic rocks in the area, the ages of dacite, andesite, and stomatal andesite are considered as 375.2 ± 2.9 Ma, 386.5 ± 3.0 Ma, and 317.9 ± 2.9 Ma, respectively, corresponding to the Middle Devonian and Late Carboniferous Period. The Devonian volcanic rocks belong to the high-K calc-alkaline series and island arc volcanic rocks, which are enriched in LREE, strongly enriched in large ion lithophile elements Th, Rb, Ba, and K and relatively depleted in high-field strength elements (HFSEs) Nb, Ta, and Ti. The Carboniferous volcanic rocks are enriched in LREE, as well as the large ion lithophile elements Th, Rb, Ba, and K are strongly enriched, while depleted in the HFSEs Nb, Ta, and Ti; moreover, the contents of TiO2 and V are 0.94–0.97% and 178–183×10–6, which are higher than those of island arc basalts. According to mineralogical typomorphic characteristics and geochemical analysis, magnetite mineralization is divided into two phases. The early stratiform magnetite ore MT1 has magmatic characteristics, forming a volcanic rock type magnetite deposit related to Devonian volcanic eruption and sedimentation (375–386 Ma). The magnetite MT2 in the magnetite-quartz vein is considered as hydrothermal genesis, which is a metal mineral in the early metallogenic stage of Carboniferous (317.1 ± 2.9 Ma) volcanic eruption and subvolcanism, and may be related to porphyry molybdenum mineralization. Therefore, the volcanism and Fe-Cu-Mo mineralization in this area is characterized by multistage superimposed mineralization.


Author(s):  
I. D. Sobolev ◽  
A. N. Shadrin ◽  
V. A. Rastorguev ◽  
D. A. Kozyreva

In the Schuchinskaya Zone of the Polar Urals granitoids of the Rechnoy and Yalya-Pe paleovolcanoes have been studied. They were mapped as Khoimpeysky Complex of Silurian age. In addition, granitoids of the Nganotsky-1 and Nganotsky-2 plutons mapped as Yunyaginsky Complex of Early Devonian age have been investigated. It was found that based on the mineral and chemical composition the rocks of all plutons studied correspond to island arc I-type granitoids. U-Pb (SIMS) concordant ages of zircons from granitoids of the Rechnoy and Yalya-Pe paleovolcanoes, and of the Nganotsky-1 pluton are 456±6, 454±4 and 463±3 Ma, respectively, which implies the existence of an island arc in the Schuchinskaya Zone as early as the Middle-Late Ordovician. Establishing the age of granitoids allows to refer volcanic rocks cut by plutons to Syadayskaya Formation, and to clarify the upper stratigraphic limit of its sedimentation as Middle-Upper Ordovician.


2000 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 525-537 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Njonfang ◽  
C. Moreau

AbstractThe Pandé massif is a small (4.9×63.4 km) subvolcanic complex of the Cameroon Line striking W – E and intrudes a Panafrican granite basement. It comprises a syenite-granite suite, where coarse- to finegrained syenites are predominant and the granites are the product of residual melt after syenite crystallization, and two volcanic (trachyte-rhyolite and trachyte) sequences. Amphibole and pyroxene are the dominant mafic silicates, the first occurring mainly in rhyolites and coarse- to medium-grained syenites, and the second, principally in all syenites, trachytes and granites. Rare biotite flakes are encountered in the coarse-grained or alkaline syenites and fayalite rimmed with oxides occurs in trachyte from the first volcanic sequence (T1). Apatite and zircon are common accessories, whereas some titanite occurs in the medium-grained syenites. The plutonic rocks are drusy, intrude the first volcanic sequence but pre-date the second (T2).All the mafic minerals are Fe-rich. Detailed studies of amphibole and pyroxene show that their compositions define relatively limited trends, amphibole varying from ferro-richterite to arfvedsonite and pyroxenes along the acmite-hedenbergite join of the Ac-Hd-Di diagram, in both the intrusive suite and volcanic rocks. Where the two minerals coexist, pyroxene crystallized subsequent to amphibole, a situation generally found in late-stage or subsolidus aegirines. The overlap in plutonic and volcanic pyroxene trends suggests their crystallization from magmas of the same composition. However, the presence of quartz and fayalite in T1 and of pure aegirine in T2 and the occurrence of Zr-bearing aegirine (NaZr0.5Fe0.52+Si2O6) in the early crystallizing alkaline syenites evolving towards pure aegirine from medium- to fine-grained quartz syenites and granites, are consistent with changes in oxygen fugacities during magmatic differentiation. Two stages are distinguished: fO2 increasingly decreased from T1 to alkaline syenite emplacement (from 10−16 to 10−24 bracketed by WM and QFM buffers) where a disequilibrium, probably caused by water dissociation with volatile loss (H2) during magma degassing, favoured crystallization of Zr-bearing aegirine; a decrease in amphibole proportions towards medium-grained quartz syenites and an increase in fO2 from the medium-grained quartz syenites to granites and T2 sequence.The Mg-poor nature of all the mafic silicates, subsolidus origin of amphiboles, crystallization of pyroxene subsequent to amphibole and subsolidus trends defined by pyroxenes are compatible with the parental magma having itself been a late-stage derivative magma, e.g. the last product of an alkaline melt from which the voluminous Mayo Darlé granite bodies crystallized.


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