Evidence for Slab Rollback, Back-Arc Rifting and Arc Dismemberment During Assembly of Western Laurentia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eneanwan Ekpo ◽  
David Eaton ◽  
Rajeev Nair
Keyword(s):  
Western Canada Sedimentary Basin ◽  
Tectonic Model ◽  
Temporal Relationships ◽  
Slab Rollback ◽  
Crystalline Crust ◽  
Back Arc ◽  
Subduction System ◽  
Conjugate Margins ◽  
Crustal Reflection ◽  
Northern Alberta

<p>The crystalline crust that underlies the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in northern Alberta is composed of tectonic domains that accreted to the margin of the Archean Rae province of western Laurentia, ca. 2.1-1.9 Ga. Geophysical data indicate that the basement crust in this region hosts a vast, mid-crustal reflection sequence (Winagami Reflection Sequence) interpreted as assemblage of mafic sills and an unusually wide domain of Paleoproterozoic magmatic arcs (Taltson Magmatic Zone). The latter are interpreted to have formed during Paleoproterozoic tectonic assembly through near-synchronous closure of small oceanic basins along subduction systems of opposing polarity. Here, we introduce a new tectonic model, which postulates that the Taltson Magmatic Zone represents collated fragments that formed within a single subduction system. Comparison with modern analogs suggest that observed temporal relationships and present-day configuration of Paleoproterozoic arcs can be explained by plate-margin processes of slab rollback and back-arc rifting. Our model is consistent with re-interpreted basement-drillcore petrology, provides a genetic link for the association between magmatic arcs and the Winagami sill complex, explains an extraordinary fit between aeromagnetically defined “conjugate margins” and provides a tectonic framework for the origin of the enigmatic low<sup>-δ18</sup>O magmatic zone (Kimiwan anomaly) along the southern Chinchaga domain.</p>

Three stages of arc migration in the Carboniferous-Triassic in northern Qiangtang, central Tibet, China: Ridge subduction and asynchronous slab rollback of the Jinsha Paleotethys

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yin Liu ◽  
Wenjiao Xiao ◽  
Brian F. Windley ◽  
Kefa Zhou ◽  
Rongshe Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Geochemical Data ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Ridge Subduction ◽  
Temporal Relationships ◽  
Slab Rollback ◽  
Geodynamic Processes ◽  
Central Tibet

Carboniferous-Triassic magmatism in northern Qiangtang, central Tibet, China, played a key role in the evolution of the Tibetan Plateau yet remains a subject of intense debate. New geochronological and geochemical data from adakitic, Nb-enriched, and normal arc magmatic rocks, integrated with results from previous studies, enable us to determine the Carboniferous-Triassic (312−205 Ma), arc-related, plutonic-volcanic rocks in northern Qiangtang. Spatial-temporal relationships reveal three periods of younging including southward (312−252 Ma), rapid northward (249−237 Ma), and normal northward (234−205 Ma) migrations that correspond to distinct slab geodynamic processes including continentward slab shallowing, rapid trenchward slab rollback, and normal trenchward rollback of the Jinsha Paleotethys rather than the Longmuco-Shuanghu Paleotethys, respectively. Moreover, varying degrees of coexistence of adakites/High-Mg andesites (HMAs)/Nb-enriched basalt-andesites (NEBs) and intraplate basalts in the above-mentioned stages is consistent with the magmatic effects of slab window triggered by ridge subduction, which probably started since the Late Carboniferous and continued into the Late Triassic. The Carboniferous-Triassic multiple magmatic migrations and ridge-subduction scenarios provide new insight into the geodynamic processes of the Jinsha Paleotethys and the growth mechanism of the Tibetan Plateau.

Passive-margin magmatism caused by enhanced slab-pull forces in central Tibet

Geology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Dan ◽  
Qiang Wang ◽  
William M. White ◽  
Xian-Hua Li ◽  
Xiu-Zheng Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Passive Margin ◽  
Lower Plate ◽  
Isotopic Signatures ◽  
Ridge Subduction ◽  
Slab Rollback ◽  
Element Enrichment ◽  
Central Tibet ◽  
Back Arc ◽  
Ocean Ridge ◽  
Qiangtang Terrane

We report on a ca. 239 Ma mafic dike swarm intruded in the Southern Qiangtang terrane, central Tibet, that was generated on the passive continental margin of a subducting lower plate. The dikes are tholeiitic basalts and exhibit light rare earth element enrichment, modest negative anomalies in Nb and Ta, and enriched isotopic signatures. The dikes are coeval with a back-arc basin formed in the upper plate as a result of the rollback of the Paleo-Tethys oceanic slab. Thus, after ocean-ridge subduction, enhanced slab-pull forces related to slab rollback on one side of the ocean induced extension and magmatism in the passive margin on the opposite side. We argue that enhanced slab-pull forces are a previously unrecognized mechanism for the generation of lower-plate passive-margin magmatism.

scholarly journals Recent inversion of the Tyrrhenian Basin

Geology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nevio Zitellini ◽  
César R. Ranero ◽  
M. Filomena Loreto ◽  
Marco Ligi ◽  
Marco Pastore ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stress Field ◽  
Driving Mechanism ◽  
Extensional Tectonics ◽  
Seismic Profiles ◽  
Regional Stress ◽  
Regional Stress Field ◽  
Slab Rollback ◽  
New Finding ◽  
Subduction System ◽  
Tyrrhenian Basin

Abstract The Tyrrhenian Basin is a region created by Neogene extensional tectonics related to slab rollback of the east-southeast–migrating Apennine subduction system, commonly believed to be actively underthrusting the Calabrian arc. A compilation of >12,000 km of multichannel seismic profiles, much of them recently collected or reprocessed, provided closer scrutiny and the mapping of previously undetected large compressive structures along the Tyrrhenian margin. This new finding suggests that Tyrrhenian Basin extension recently ceased. The ongoing compressional reorganization of the basin indicates a change of the regional stress field in the area, confirming that slab rollback is no longer a driving mechanism for regional kinematics, now dominated by the Africa-Eurasia lithospheric collision

Geochemistry and origin of Archean felsic metavolcanic rocks, central Noranda area, Quebec, Canada

1987 ◽  
Vol 24 (12) ◽  
pp. 2551-2567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Osamu Ujike ◽  
A. M. Goodwin
Keyword(s):  
Partial Melting ◽  
Fractional Crystallization ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Primitive Mantle ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Tectonic Model ◽  
Metavolcanic Rocks ◽  
Felsic Volcanic ◽  
Back Arc ◽  
Felsic Volcanic Rocks

Felsic magma petrogenesis was studied by analyzing 24 stratigraphically controlled Archean andesite-to-rhyolite lava flows of both tholeiitic and calc-alkalic affinity from the upper Noranda Subgroup, Quebec, using instrumental neutron activation and X-ray fluorescence techniques. The lavas have moderate values of [La/Yb]N (0.9–3.8) and low values of 100 × Th/Zr (~1). According to calculations following batch partial melting and Rayleigh fractional crystallization models, both the calc-alkalic and tholeiitic felsic volcanic rocks are probably products of shallow-level fractional crystallization of mafic parental magmas formed respectively by lower (~7 % for calc-alkalic) and higher (~14% for tholeiitic) degrees of partial melting of a primitive mantle source.Contribution to the magma genesis from plausible crustal materials was negligible. A back-arc-type diapirism is geochemically suggested for the tectonic model of origin of Noranda felsic magmas, in conformity with geological observations. Felsic volcanic rocks with compositions analogous to the studied samples exist in several other Archean terrains of the Canadian Shield, suggesting thereby that the late Archean sialic crust was at least in part produced by volcanic rocks ultimately derived from the primitive mantle.

scholarly journals Lawrence Head Volcanics and Dunnage Mélange, Newfoundland Appalachians: Origin by Ordovician Ridge Subduction or in Back-Arc Rift?

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 523
Author(s):  
Adam Schoonmaker ◽  
William S.F. Kidd ◽  
Stephen E. DeLong ◽  
John F. Bender
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Accretionary Prism ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Geological Evidence ◽  
Eastern Area ◽  
Ridge Subduction ◽  
Younger Age ◽  
Majeure Partie ◽  
Back Arc ◽  
Subduction System

This paper reviews the geological setting and reports new geochemical trace element data from the Ordovician Lawrence Head Volcanics (LHV) and the underlying gabbro sills in the Exploits Group. In combination with existing published analyses and ages of these rocks, the volcanic rocks and sills are indistinguishable in composition and age, and the data are consistent with the hypothesis that they represent the same (mostly E-MORB composition) magmatic event in the early–mid Darriwilian (~465 ± 2 Ma). The LHV and their enclosing strata show regional evidence for: 1) upward decline of volume and grain size of arc-derived volcaniclastic materials over the uppermost interval of turbidite sedimentary strata below the LHV; 2) change to shallow marine conditions locally by the end of the LHV event, followed immediately by significant subsidence, and 3) no evidence of coarse-grained clastic input, nor of normal faulting, during or immediately after LHV magmatism. Ridge–trench interaction (ridge subduction) at a subduction system is consistent with all of these features and spatial distribution of related elements, but a rift (back-arc) origin over a subduction zone can only accommodate the compositions, and is inconsistent with the geological evidence. The Dunnage Mélange (DM) has been interpreted either as olistostromal in a developing back-arc rift basin, or as a subduction accretionary prism. Peraluminous intrusions in the mélange (Coaker Porphyry ― CP) are more readily explained by ridge subduction, and a previously reported zircon age (469 ± 4 Ma) is consistent with the age of the LHV and gabbro sills, also interpreted as products of ridge subduction. Localization of the CP in the eastern area of DM, and of most of the large LHV-derived volcanic blocks in the western DM, suggests a slightly younger age, and perhaps a different mechanism, for the origin of the western DM.SOMMAIRECet article passe en revue le contexte géologique et présente de nouvelles données géochimiques d’éléments traces des roches volcaniques ordoviciennes de Lawrence Head (LHV) et des filons-couches de gabbro sous-jacents du Groupe Exploits.  Considérant la combinaison des données d’analyse publiées et des datations de ces roches, les roches volcaniques et les filons-couches sont indiscernables tant en composition qu’en âge, et les données sont compatibles avec l’hypothèse selon laquelle ils représentent le même événement magmatique (principalement E-MORB) du Darriwilien précoce à moyen (~465 ± 2 Ma).  Les LHV ainsi que les strates de l’encaissant renferment des indices régionaux qui montrent : 1) que le volume et la granulométrie des matériaux volcanoclastiques d’arc diminuent vers le haut dans l’intervalle supérieur des strates de turbidites sédimentaires sous les LHV; 2) que le changement vers des milieux marins peu profonds localement vers la fin de l’événement des LHV a été suivi immédiatement par une subsidence importante, et 3) qu’il n’existe pas d’indices d’apports clastiques à gros grains, non plus que de formation de failles normales, durant ou immédiatement après le magmatisme des LHV.  L’interaction crête-fosse (subduction de la crête) au lieu d’un système de subduction concorde avec toutes ces caractéristiques et la répartition spatiale des éléments reliés, alors qu’une origine de crête (arrière-arc) au-dessus d’une zone de subduction ne peut expliquer que les compositions et qu’elle est incompatible avec l’évidence géologique.  Le Dunnage Mélange (DM) a été interprété soit comme un olistostome dans un bassin d’arrière-arc en développement, ou comme un prisme d’accrétion de subduction.  Les intrusions hyperalumineuses dans le mélange (Porphyre Coaker — CP), s’explique plus facilement par une subduction de crête, et un âge de datation sur zircon de (469 ± 4 Ma) correspond à l’âge des LHV et des filons-couche de gabbro, aussi interprétés comme produits d’une subduction de crête.  La localisation du CP dans la portion orientale du DM, et de la majeure partie des grands blocs volcaniques dérivés des LHV de la portion ouest du DM, suggère un âge légèrement plus jeune, et peut-être un mécanisme différent, pour l’origine de la portion ouest du DM.

scholarly journals The role of arc migration in the development of the Lesser Antilles: A new tectonic model for the Cenozoic evolution of the eastern Caribbean

Geology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (9) ◽  
pp. 891-895 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.W. Allen ◽  
J.S. Collier ◽  
A.G. Stewart ◽  
T. Henstock ◽  
S. Goes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Lesser Antilles ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
Tectonic Model ◽  
Continental Arc ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Geochemical Variations ◽  
Eastern Caribbean ◽  
Two Phases ◽  
Subduction System

Abstract Continental arc systems often show evidence of large-scale migration both toward and away from the incoming plate. In oceanic arc systems, however, while slab roll-back and the associated processes of backarc spreading and arc migration toward the incoming plate are commonplace, arc migration away from the incoming plate is rarely observed. We present a new compilation of marine magnetic anomaly and seismic data in order to propose a new tectonic model for the eastern Caribbean region that includes arc migration in both directions. We synthesized new evidence to show two phases of backarc spreading and eastward arc migration toward the incoming Atlantic. A third and final phase of arc migration to the west subdivided the earlier backarc basin on either side of the present-day Lesser Antilles arc. This is the first example of regional multidirectional arc migration in an intra-oceanic setting, and it has implications for along-arc structural and geochemical variations. The back and forth arc migrations were probably due to the constraints imposed by the neighboring American plates on this isolated subduction system, rather than variations in subducting slab buoyancy.

scholarly journals Role of the Down-Bending Plate as a Detrital Source in Convergent Systems Revealed by U–Pb Dating of Zircon Grains: Insights from the Southern Andes and Western Italian Alps

Minerals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 632
Author(s):  
Andrea Di Giulio ◽  
Chiara Amadori ◽  
Pierre Mueller ◽  
Antonio Langone
Keyword(s):  
Tectonic Evolution ◽  
Subduction Zones ◽  
Western Alps ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Continental Margins ◽  
Provenance Analysis ◽  
Clastic Sediments ◽  
Continental Block ◽  
Back Arc ◽  
Subduction System

In convergent zones, several parts of the geodynamic system (e.g., continental margins, back-arc regions) can be deformed, uplifted, and eroded through time, each of them potentially delivering clastic sediments to neighboring basins. Tectonically driven events are mostly recorded in syntectonic clastic systems accumulated into different kinds of basins: trench, fore-arc, and back-arc basins in subduction zones and foredeep, thrust-top, and episutural basins in collisional settings. The most widely used tools for provenance analysis of synorogenic sediments and for unraveling the tectonic evolution of convergent zones are sandstone petrography and U–Pb dating of detrital zircon. In this paper, we present a comparison of previously published data discussing how these techniques are used to constrain provenance reconstructions and contribute to a better understanding of the tectonic evolution of (i) the Cretaceous transition from extensional to compressional regimes in the back-arc region of the southern Andean system; and (ii) the involvement of the passive European continental margin in the Western Alps subduction system during impending Alpine collision. In both cases, sediments delivered from the down-bending continental block are significantly involved. Our findings highlight its role as a detrital source, which is generally underestimated or even ignored in current tectonic models.

Uranium and thorium in the Precambrian basement of western Canada. I. Abundance and distribution

1976 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 284-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. Burwash ◽  
G. L. Cumming
Keyword(s):  
Western Canada ◽  
Distribution Analysis ◽  
Metamorphic Belt ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Western Canada Sedimentary Basin ◽  
Peace River ◽  
Peace River Arch ◽  
Abundance And Distribution ◽  
Canada Sedimentary Basin ◽  
Northern Alberta

Delayed neutron activation analyses of 182 core samples from the basement of the western Canada sedimentary basin give mean values of 4.13 ppm U and 21.1 ppm Th. These values are almost twice the published values for the Shield as a whole. Replicate analyses of a composite sample of all cores indicates an analytical precision of ±1% for uranium and ±7% for thorium.Histograms of number of samples vs. U and Th values indicate a negatively skewed frequency distribution. Analysis of composite samples prepared from a large number of hand specimens may tend to conceal this skewed nature. Mean abundance values will also be influenced by the form of the U and Th frequency distributions.Trend surface analysis, with smoothing to reduce the effect of high or low single sample values, indicates two 'highs' common to both U and Th. The helium-producing area around Swift Current, Saskatchewan is associated with a high U–Th plutonic complex. A linear belt trending northeast from Edmonton appears to be a Hudsonian metamorphic belt in which U and Th have been concentrated. Several local concentrations of U or Th are found in the Peace River Arch of northern Alberta.

scholarly journals Mineralogy, Geochemistry, and Age Constraints on the Axinite-Bearing Gukjeon Pb–Zn Skarn Deposit in the Miryang Area, South Korea

Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 619
Author(s):  
Namhoon Kim ◽  
Sang-Mo Koh ◽  
Byoung-Woon You ◽  
Bum-Han Lee
Keyword(s):  
Age Dating ◽  
Southeastern Part ◽  
Zircon Age ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Magmatic Rocks ◽  
Temporal Relationships ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Back Arc ◽  
Age Constraints ◽  
Shrimp Zircon

The axinite-bearing Gukjeon Pb–Zn deposit is hosted by the limestone, a member of the Jeonggaksan Formation, which, in turn, forms the part of the Jusasan subgroup of the Yucheon Group in the Gyeongsang Basin in the southeastern part of the Korean Peninsula. In this study, we attempted to interpret the spatial and temporal relationships among geologic events, including the mineralization of this deposit. We constructed a new 3D orebody model and suggested a relationship between skarn alteration and related mineralization. Mineralization timing was constrained using SHRIMP zircon age dating results combined with boron geochemistry on coeval intrusive rocks. Skarn alterations are restrictively found in several horizons of the limestone formation. The major skarn minerals are garnet (grossular), pyroxene (hedenbergite), amphibole (actinolite and ferro-actinolite), axinite (tizenite and ferro-axinite), and epidote (clinozoisite and epidote). The three stages of pre-skarn, syn-skarn, and post-skarn alteration are recognized within the deposit. The syn-skarn alteration is characterized by prograde metasomatic pyroxene and garnet, and the retrograde metasomatic amphibole, axinite, and epidote. Major skarn sulfide minerals are sphalerite, chalcopyrite, galena, and pyrite, which were predominantly precipitated during the retrograde stage and formed amphibole and axinite skarns. The skarn orebodies seem to be disc- or flat-shaped with a convex form at the central part of the orebodies. The vertical ascending and horizontal infiltration of boron-rich hydrothermal fluid probably controlled the geometry of the orebodies. Considering the whole-rock major, trace, and boron geochemical and geochronological results, the timing of Pb–Zn mineralization can be tightly constrained between the emplacement of boron-poor intrusion (fine-grained granodiorite, 82.8 Ma) and boron-rich intrusion (porphyritic andesite in Beomdori andesitic rocks, 83.8 Ma) in a back-arc basin setting. The boron for mineralization was sourced from late Cretaceous (Campanian), subduction-related magmatic rocks along the margin of the Pacific plate.

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