scholarly journals The Upper Cretaceous ophiolite of North Kozara – remnants of an anomalous mid-ocean ridge segment of the Neotethys?

2014 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladica Cvetković ◽  
Kristina Šarić ◽  
Aleksandar Grubić ◽  
Ranko Cvijić ◽  
Aleksej Milošević

Abstract This study sheds new light on the origin and evolution of the north Kozara ophiolite, a part of the Sava-Vardar Zone. The Sava-Vardar Zone is regarded as a relict of the youngest Tethyan realm in the present-day Balkan Peninsula. The north Kozara ophiolite consists of a bimodal igneous association comprising isotropic to layered gabbros, diabase dykes and basaltic pillow lavas (basic suite), as well as relicts of predominantly rhyodacite lava flows and analogous shallow intrusions (acid suite). The rocks of the basic suite show relatively flat to moderately light-REE enriched patterns with no or weak negative Eu-anomaly, whereas those of the acid suite exhibit steeper patterns and have distinctively more pronounced Eu- and Sr- negative anomalies. Compared to the known intra-ophiolitic granitoids from the Eastern Vardar Zone, the acid suite rocks are most similar to those considered to be oceanic plagiogranites. The new geochemical data suggest that the basic suite rocks are similar to enriched mid-ocean ridge basalts. The geochemical characteristics of the acid suite rocks indicate that their primary magmas most probably originated via partial melting of gabbros from the lower oceanic crust. Our study confirms the oceanic nature of the north Kozara Mts rock assemblage, and suggests that it may have formed within an anomalous ridge setting similar to present-day Iceland.

1992 ◽  
Vol 97 (B5) ◽  
pp. 6907 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosamond J. Kinzler ◽  
Timothy L. Grove

Geofluids ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Pierre ◽  
Alexander P. Gysi ◽  
Thomas Monecke

Seawater-basalt interaction taking place at mid-ocean ridges was studied using numerical modeling to determine the compositional evolution of hydrothermal fluids and associated alteration mineralogy forming within newly emplaced crustal material. Geochemical modeling was carried out in a closed seawater-basalt system at discrete temperature intervals between 2 and 400°C at 500 bars, varying fluid/rock ratios, and secondary mineral assemblages representative of basalt alteration in natural systems. In addition to temperature, the fluid/rock ratio has a fundamental control on the resulting system chemistry. At rock-buffered conditions (low fluid/rock ratios), the mineral-solution equilibrium was characterized by high cation to proton activity ratios foraCa2+/(aH+)2andaNa+/aH+and very low dissolved Mg concentrations due to the precipitation of smectites and chlorite. A complex secondary mineral alteration assemblage dominated by Ca- and Na-bearing minerals including zeolites, calcite, epidote, prehnite, clinozoisite, and albite was predicted to form. The resulting fluid composition was alkaline and reduced relative to ambient seawater, with Eh values ranging between −0.2 and −0.6 V. In contrast, seawater-buffered conditions (high fluid/rock ratios) resulted in lower cation to proton activity ratios foraCa2+/(aH+)2andaNa+/aH+and higher dissolved Mg concentrations comparable to the value of this element in ambient seawater. A more simple mineral assemblage was predicted to form at these conditions with the predominance of Al-Si- and Mg-bearing minerals including kaolinite, quartz, and talc in addition to large amounts of anhydrite. The resulting fluid composition was mildly acidic and oxidized relative to seawater with Eh values ranging between −0.2 and 0 V. These modeling results were compared to a compilation of submarine hydrothermal vent fluid compositions from mid-ocean ridge settings and analogous basalt-dominated environments. The agreement obtained between the simulations and the compiled fluid data indicates that mid-ocean ridge hydrothermal processes can be closely reproduced by mineral-solution equilibria for a broad range of temperatures and fluid/rock ratios.


2020 ◽  
Vol 132 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 2202-2220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yue Tang ◽  
Qing-Guo Zhai ◽  
Sun-Lin Chung ◽  
Pei-Yuan Hu ◽  
Jun Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract The Meso-Tethys was a late Paleozoic to Mesozoic ocean basin between the Cimmerian continent and Gondwana. Part of its relicts is exposed in the Bangong–Nujiang suture zone, in the north-central Tibetan Plateau, that played a key role in the evolution of the Tibetan plateau before the India-Asia collision. A Penrose-type ophiolitic sequence was newly discovered in the Ren Co area in the middle of the Bangong–Nujiang suture zone, which comprises serpentinized peridotites, layered and isotropic gabbros, sheeted dikes, pillow and massive basalts, and red cherts. Zircon U-Pb dating of gabbros and plagiogranites yielded 206Pb/238U ages of 169–147 Ma, constraining the timing of formation of the Ren Co ophiolite. The mafic rocks (i.e., basalt, diabase, and gabbro) in the ophiolite have uniform geochemical compositions, coupled with normal mid-ocean ridge basalt-type trace element patterns. Moreover, the samples have positive whole-rock εNd(t) [+9.2 to +8.3], zircon εHf(t) [+17 to +13], and mantle-like δ18O (5.8–4.3‰) values. These features suggest that the Ren Co ophiolite is typical of mid-ocean ridge-type ophiolite that is identified for the first time in the Bangong–Nujiang suture zone. We argue that the Ren Co ophiolite is the relic of a fast-spreading ridge that occurred in the main oceanic basin of the Bangong–Nujiang segment of Meso-Tethys. Here the Meso-Tethyan orogeny involves a continuous history of oceanic subduction, accretion, and continental assembly from the Early Jurassic to Early Cretaceous.


1999 ◽  
Vol 36 (9) ◽  
pp. 1463-1481 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Selby ◽  
Robert A Creaser ◽  
Bruce E Nesbitt

Geochemical (major, trace, and rare earth elements) and isotopic (Nd, Sr, and Pb) data of the Devono-Mississippian Wolverine Creek Metamorphic Suite, mid-Cretaceous Dawson Range batholith, mid-Cretaceous Casino Plutonic Suite, and Late Cretaceous plutons provide new information on the origin and evolution of the rocks from the Dawson Range in west-central Yukon, northern Canadian Cordillera. Isotopic and other geochemical data for the Wolverine Creek Metamorphic Suite metasedimentary rocks indicate that the detrital components were derived from two distinct provenances: (1) the North America craton, which contributed evolved felsic, upper crustal material; and (2) a calc-alkaline arc, which shed juvenile mafic-intermediate material. The geochemical affinity of the metaigneous rocks indicates that the Yukon-Tanana terrane represented a continental arc during Devonian-Mississippian times, with magmas derived from geochemically primitive sources and partial melting of the Yukon-Tanana terrane supracrustal rocks. The Dawson Range batholith likely represents crustally derived magmas from the Yukon-Tanana terrane during the mid-Cretaceous, with the contemporaneous Casino Plutonic Suite representing a late-stage fractionate of these magmas. The Late Cretaceous porphyry Cu mineralization is genetically related to plutons derived from mantle-source magmas related to active subduction.


Author(s):  
David W. JOLLEY ◽  
John M. MILLETT ◽  
Nick SCHOFIELD ◽  
Lena BROADLEY ◽  
Malcolm J. HOLE

ABSTRACT The integration of biostratigraphical, wireline log, geophysical and available geochronological ages has identified two principal periods of volcanism in the Faroe–Shetland and Rockall basins. The first is pre-breakup, upper Danian to lower Thanetian: in the Rockall and Faroe–Shetland basins, isolated volcanic activity from 62 Ma to 58.7 Ma is identified in areas closely linked to the SSW–NNE structural fabric of the continental margin. Volcanic activity was concentrated at basin flank fissures and localised point sources. This rift-flank volcanism led to widespread volcanic ash deposition, localised lava flow fields and the formation of igneous centres. Some of the Hebridean and onshore central complexes (e.g., Rum) were uplifted and rapidly eroded during the later pre-breakup period, while additional accommodation space was developed in the adjacent offshore basins. Onset and termination of pre-breakup volcanism is correlated to intra-plate stress regimes in Europe, following the cessation of convergence of Africa and Europe in the Danian. The second is syn-breakup, upper Thanetian to Ypresian, initiated at ca.57 Ma in the Rockall and Faroe–Shetland basins. Initial high-volume extrusive igneous successions were focussed to the W in the Faroe–Shetland Basin. In the centre and E of the Faroe–Shetland and Rockall basins, separate eruption loci developed along pre-existing lineaments either as fissure or point-sourced lava fields. Short-term cessation of eruption at ~55.8 Ma was followed by resumption of flood basalt eruptions and a shift in focus to the NW. Fluctuations in the syn-breakup eruption tempo are reflected in the formation and subsequent rejuvenation of prominent unconformities, only previously recognised as a single erosive event. The W and northward shift of eruption focus, and the eruption of mid ocean ridge basalt-type lavas in the syn-breakup period reflect the onset of lithospheric thinning in the nascent North Atlantic Rift prior to flooding of the rift and eruption of the widespread lower Ypresian Balder Formation tephras.


1993 ◽  
Vol 30 (8) ◽  
pp. 1607-1612 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D. Greenough ◽  
Sandra L. Kamo ◽  
Thomas E. Krogh

Mafic sills from Cape St. Mary's on the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland give an U–Pb baddeleyite age of 441 ± 2 Ma. This age corresponds with the earliest ages recorded for the climactic Silurian orogenic event that dominantly affected rocks of the Central Mobile Belt in Newfoundland. The age is consistent with but in no way necessitates that the Avalon and Gander zones were juxtaposed during the Silurian. Because sills tend to form in poorly lithified and undeformed sedimentary rocks, it is unlikely that Cambrian sediments hosting the sills were affected by Ordovician orogenic events that strongly affected central Newfoundland. Negative Nb and Ti anomalies on mid-ocean-ridge basalt normalized diagrams show that the sill geochemistry is consistent with formation in a transpressional tectonic environment. Mafic magmas clearly associated with the Silurian event share these chemical and tectonic affinities. Thus both the age and geochemical data are consistent with but do not require a link between the Gander and Avalon zones during the Silurian. If the two zones were joined prior to the Silurian then the Avalon must have been distal to both the Ordovician and Silurian orogenic activity. Further, considerable post-Silurian movement would have had to occur along the bounding Hermitage–Dover fault to account for contrasts in the intensity of metamorphism, plutonism, and deformation between the Gander and Avalon zones.


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