scholarly journals Magma Mixing Genesis of the Mafic Enclaves in the Qingshanbao Complex of Longshou Mountain, China: Evidence from Petrology, Geochemistry, and Zircon Chronology

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.

Author(s):  
Valbone Memeti ◽  
Scott R. Paterson ◽  
Roland Mundil

The initiation of pluton formation is rarely preserved as the rock record is typically overprinted by younger intruding pulses. An exception is the 80 km2 Kuna Crest lobe, which marks the initiation of the 95−85 Ma, 1100 km2 Tuolumne Intrusive Complex in the Sierra Nevada, California, USA. We present a detailed map of the lithologies and structure of the Kuna Crest lobe, associated sheeted complex and satellite plutons, and their host rocks, using chemical abrasion−isotope dilution−thermal ionization mass spectrometry and laser ablation−inductively coupled plasma−mass spectrometry U-Pb zircon geochronology, element and isotope geochemistry, and Al-in-hornblende thermobarometry to conclude the following: (a) The 94.91 ± 0.53 Ma to 92.75 ± 0.11 Ma Kuna Crest lobe and its marginal sheeted complex preserved the oldest intrusive pulses and most mantle-like compositions of the entire Tuolumne Intrusive Complex. (b) Emplacement began with magma wedging of low volume magma pulses resulting in a sheeted complex that is compositionally heterogeneous at outcrop scales, but isotopically homogeneous. (c) These early magmas established a pre-heated pathway within just a few hundreds of thousands of years that gave way to the formation of the ∼1.5 million-year-long active, compositionally more homogeneous but isotopically more heterogeneous magma mush across the Kuna Crest lobe. The host rocks and previously intruded magma were displaced largely vertically through downward flow. (d) The melt-interconnected mush zone in the lobe allowed for magma mixing and crystal-liquid separation at the emplacement level. We interpret this lobe to represent an upper- to mid-crustal, vertical magma transfer zone that likely fed shallower plutons and potentially volcanic eruptions. We propose a filter pressing mechanism driven by vertical magma transport through the lobe resulting in margin-parallel fabrics, plagioclase-rich crystal cumulates, inward draining and upward loss (of up to 40%) of interstitial melts. Some inward drained melts hybridized with later intruding Half Dome magmas at the transition to the main Tuolumne Intrusive Complex. Some of the lobe magmas, including fractionated melts, drained laterally into the strain shadow of the lobe to form the satellite plutons, further contributing to cumulate formation in the lobe. This study documents that within only a few hundreds of thousands of years, arc magma plumbing systems are capable of establishing a focused magma pathway to build up to increasingly larger magma bodies that are capable of undergoing magma differentiation and feeding shallower plutons and volcanic eruptions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (7) ◽  
pp. 738-755 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alana Mackinder ◽  
Brian L. Cousens ◽  
Richard E. Ernst ◽  
Kevin R. Chamberlain

Spanning 2500 km along the western margin of North America are 780 Ma dykes, sills, and minor volcanic packages of the Gunbarrel Large Igneous Province. This study focuses on southern (northwestern United States) and central (northern British Columbia) Gunbarrel intrusions and metavolcanics rocks of the Irene and Huckleberry formation (Washington State). Southern Gunbarrel U–Pb ages range from 780 to 769 Ma and new U–Pb zircon dates for the Turah and Rogers Pass sills are 778.6 ± 0.7 and 778.7 ± 0.9 Ma, respectively. Southern Gunbarrel intrusions are medium- to coarse-grained diabases that are moderately evolved basaltic, continental tholeiites. Intrusions display negative Nb–Ta and positive Pb anomalies in normalized multielement plots, and εNd780 values vary from +3.6 to +1.5. The Irene and Huckleberry volcanic rocks are E-MORB in composition with higher εNd780 (+5 to +6) and likely represent partial melts of a mantle plume responsible for the Gunbarrel event. Assuming an Irene and Huckleberry parental magma, mixing models indicate that the southern Gunbarrel magmas were crustally contaminated, but local host rocks are not appropriate crustal contaminants. The modeling points to average upper crust as the crustal contaminant, with an εNd780 of approximately –2. This crustal contaminant likely resides on the craton impinged upon by the mantle plume. The remarkable geochemical homogeneity of Gunbarrel intrusions from the Yukon to Wyoming is best explained if primary, plume-derived E-MORB magmas were contaminated in large magma reservoirs near the plume centre and were then injected laterally into the crust 100s to 1000s of kilometres from the reservoir.


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.


Author(s):  
J. B. Allen ◽  
T. Deans

SummaryA detrital assemblage of magnesian ilmenite, pyrope, chrome-diopside, rutile, and zircon has been traced to outcropping ultrabasic alkaline rocks, hitherto unknown in the Melanesian region. Analyses and descriptions of these ‘kimberlite indicator minerals’ are given. The host rocks comprise alnöite, an alnöite breccia with calcite matrix, and a magnesian ankaratrite, which are described, with chemical analyses. Emphasis is laid on the abundance of ultrabasic inclusions and xenocrysts and the replacements and transformations they have undergone. Malaita Island promises to contribute significantly to the understanding of the relations between alnöite, melilite basalts, and kimberlites.


2009 ◽  
Vol 73 (5) ◽  
pp. 777-796 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Macdonald ◽  
H. E. Belkin ◽  
F. Wall ◽  
B. Baginski

AbstractElectron microprobe analyses are presented of chevkinite-group minerals from Canada, USA, Guatemala, Norway, Scotland, Italy and India. The host rocks are metacarbonates, alkaline and subalkaline granitoids, quartz-bearing pegmatites, carbonatite and an inferred K-rich tuff. The analyses extend slightly the range of compositions in the chevkinite group, e.g. the most MgO-rich phases yet recorded, and we report two further examples where La is the dominant cation in the A site. Patchily- zoned crystals from Virginia and Guatemala contain both perrierite and chevkinite compositions. The new and published analyses are used to review compositional variation in minerals of the perrierite subgroup, which can form in a wide range of host rock compositions and over a substantial pressure- temperature range. The dominant substitutions in the various cation sites and a generalized substitution scheme are described.


2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-137
Author(s):  
David E. Newton ◽  
Amy G. Ryan ◽  
Luke J. Hilchie

We use analogue experimentation to test the hypothesis that host rock competence primarily determines the morphology of kimberlite pipes. Natural occurrences of kimberlite pipes are subdivided into three classes: class 1 pipes are steep-sided diatremes emplaced into crystalline rock; class 2 pipes have a wide, shallow crater emplaced into sedimentary rock overlain by unconsolidated sediments; class 3 pipes comprise a steep-sided diatreme with a shallow-angled crater emplaced into competent crystalline rock overlain by unconsolidated sediments. We use different configurations of three analogue materials with varying cohesions to model the contrasting geological settings observed in nature. Pulses of compressed air, representing the energy of the gas-rich head of a kimberlitic magma, are used to disrupt the experimental substrate. In our experiments, the competence and configuration of the analogue materials control the excavation processes as well as the final shape of the analogue pipes: eruption through competent analogue strata results in steep-sided analogue pipes; eruption through weak analogue strata results in wide, shallow analogue pipes; eruption through intermediate strength analogue strata results in analogue pipes with a shallow crater and a steep-sided diatreme. These experimental results correspond with the shapes of natural kimberlite pipes, and demonstrate that variations in the lithology of the host rock are sufficient to generate classic kimberlite pipe shapes. These findings are consistent with models that ascribe the pipe morphologies of natural kimberlites to the competence of the host rocks in which they are emplaced.


Solid Earth ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 1509-1519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim I. Yilmaz ◽  
Florian Duschl ◽  
Danilo Di Genova

Abstract. Hydrothermal quartz crystals, which occur in the Rusey Fault Zone (Cornwall, UK), show feathery textures and network-like filamentous textures. Optical hot-cathodoluminescence (CL) analysis and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) investigations on quartz samples revealed that positions exhibiting feathery textures (violet luminescence) contain higher amounts of Al and Li than quartz positions without feathery textures (blue luminescence), while concentrations of Al and Li are significantly lower in feathery textures. Both Al and Li correlate negatively with Si. Raman spectroscopy investigations revealed the presence of a weak peak at 507–509 cm−1 in quartz affected by feathery textures, which we attribute to the presence of  ≤  5 % moganite, a microcrystalline silica polymorph, intergrown with chalcedony. The combined occurrence of feathery textures and network-like filamentous textures in quartz samples from the Rusey Fault Zone points to the presence of a metastable silica precursor (i.e., amorphous silica or silica gel) before or during the crystallization.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Olatoye Adepoju ◽  
Yinusa Ayodele Asiwaju-Bello

Chemical whole-rock major oxides and some trace element analyses were done on granitic gneiss rocks located on the southeastern margin of western Nigeria Basement Complex, exposed in parts of Dagbala-Atte District, southwestern Nigeria. This was meant to classify the rocks and to understand the tectonic setting in order to evaluate their crustal evolution. The chemical analyses were done using inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometer. From the results obtained, these rocks classified into calc-alkaline to shoshonite series with metaluminous to peraluminous varieties, they are I-type granitoids of feroan composition. The granitic gneisses formed from metamorphism of granite and granodiorite. Tectonically, most of the rock samples plotted in the field of island arc, continental arc and continental-collisional granitoids, which indicated that the protolith granite and granodiorite are orogenic and are arc related inferring arc tectonic setting.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bojan Otoničar

The studied palaeokarst corresponds to an uplifted peripheral foreland bulge when Upper Cretaceous diagenetically immature eugenetic carbonates were subaerially exposed, karstified and subsequently overlain by upper Paleocene/lower Eocene palustrine limestone. Among the subsurface paleokarstic features, both vadose and phreatic forms occur.  The phreatic caves/cavities include features characteristic of the mixing zone speleogenesis at the interface between freshwater (brackish water) lenses and the underlying seawater. They were found in various positions with respect to the paleokarstic surface, the deepest being about 75 m below the surface. Three indistinct horizons of cavities/caves and intermediate vugs were recognized. Subsequently, all cavities were completely filled with detrital sediments and speleothems in the phreatic and vadose zones. In general, the phreatic cavities of the lower two horizons are geopetally filled with mudstone derived from incomplete dissolution of the host rock and overlain by coarse-grained, blocky calcite. Shallower below the paleokarst surface, a large phreatic cave of the third horizon is filled with flowstone overlain by reddish micritic carbonate sediment with intercalated calcite rafts. In the upper part of the cave, sediments derived from the paleokarst surface are gradually becoming more abundant. Vadose channels, which may also intersect the cave sediments, are mainly filled with "pedogenic" material derived from the paleokarst surface. Immediately prior to marine transgression over the paleokarst surface, some cavities were filled with marine-derived microturbidites. In general, the diversity of cave fills and the amount of surface material decrease with distance from the paleokarst surface. Below the paleokarst surface, the δ13C and δ18O values of a host rock and cavity deposits show good correlation with trends significant for meteoric diagenesis. It is shown that deposits associated with phreatic caves can be of great importance for the study of the speleogenetic, geomorphological and hydrogeological evolution of certain palaeokarst regions.


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