Crust–Mantle Xenoliths from the Kharchinsky Volcano (Central Kamchatka Depression): Mineralogy and Petrogenesis

—We present results of a study of plutonic-rock xenoliths from the Kharchinsky Volcano (Central Kamchatka depression). The studied xenolith collection comprises nine samples of peridotites and clinopyroxenites. The peridotites are identified as wehrlites, dunites, and harzburgites composed of olivine, clino- and orthopyroxenes, amphibole, and chromite in varying amounts. The clinopyroxenites consist mostly of clinopyroxene and often contain subordinate olivine, amphibole, hercynite, and magnetite. The xenoliths have interstitial segregations and veins composed of chlorite, plagioclase, K-feldspar, orthopyroxene, barite, fluorapatite, ilmenite, and, more seldom, anhydrite, phlogopite, and some other minerals. The study has revealed that veinlet minerals sometimes replace primary minerals and form pseudomorphs, thus indicating the metasomatic origin of interstitial and vein mineral assemblages. The thermobarometric calculations for minerals have shown that peridotites formed at ~1140 °C and ≤10 kbar in the intermediate chambers at the depths from the spinel stability field to the Moho. Interstitial metasomatic alterations of rocks took place at ~400–850 °C.

LATE MIOCENE-PLIOCENE TRANSFORM MARGIN OF KAMCHATKA

Testing of the geochemical compositions of the Late Cenozoic volcanites of Kamchatka on new discriminant diagrams confirmed the idea of the existence of different geodynamic regimes at this time. It is shown that the Late Miocene (~6 Ma)-Pliocene volcanites of Eastern Kamchatka and the Central Kamchatka Depression, as well as the Late Pliocene (~3.5 Ma)-Holocene alkaline, calcareous-alkaline, and adakite volcanites of the central part of the Middle Ridge are similar to the volcanites of the transform margins of the Pacific type. At the same time, the Miocene–Holocene volcanites of Southern Kamchatka, the Miocene-Early Pliocene volcanites of the Middle Ridge, and the Pleistocene–Holocene volcanites of Eastern Kamchatka are similar to the volcanites of the convergent margins. In the central part of Kamchatka (from the coast to the Middle Ridge), at the end of the Miocene-Pliocene, during the collision of the Kronotsky terrane of the island arc and the slip of the Pacific plate, magmatic complexes typical of the transform margin were formed in this area. The geochemistry of the transform margin volcanites is due to the upwelling of the subslab asthenosphere both into the collision zone and into the zone of the volcanic arc of the Middle Ridge, after the rupture and subsequent separation of the Komandor-Kronotsky microplate slab.

"Diffusive" border of isotopic reservoirs of indian and pacific morb types beneath Kamchatka

The convergence zones of lithospheric plates in the Northwest Pacific are the boundaries of the two main isotopic domains of the Earth - the Indian and Pacific MORB types, separated be cold oceanic lithosphere. This configuration limits of their interaction by special geodynamic environments - the influence of deep plume sources or the distraction of the subducted slab and intrusion of the oceanic asthenosphere into the subcontinental mantle wedge. The latter mechanism is reconstructed in the Central Kamchatka Depression on the basis of geological, geochemical, and high-precision (double-spike) lead isotopic data. The role of the oceanic asthenosphere in magma generation in the zones of convergence of oceanic and continental lithospheres is a poorly studied but not unique phenomenon that must be considered under geodynamic reconstructions and the creation of new, more realistic models of the juvenile continental crust formation.

Evolution of the isotopic-geochemical composition of rocks of Uksichan volcano, Sredinnyi range, Kamchatka, and its relations to the tectonic restyling of Kamchatka in the neogene

The paper presents newly acquired data on concentrations of major and trace elements and on Sr, Nd, and Pb isotope composition in Pliocene and Late Pleistocene–Holocene mafic volcanic rocks of the Uksichan volcanic center, one of the largest in the Sredinnyi Range of Kamchatka. Based on these data, the mafic Pliocene volcanics are thought to be produced by the melting of heterogenized mantle material, which had been hybridized by subduction and asthenospheric processes. The behavior of HFSE and Pb isotopic systematics provide evidence of the melting of subducted sediment and origin of pyroxenite segregations in the peridotite matrix. The low ∆8/4Pb values of the Pliocene lavas of Uksichan shield volcano and in modern large volcanic centers in the Central Kamchatka Depression are correlated with the magmatic productivity, which indicates, when considered together with HFSE and HREE behavior, that the Pacific asthenosphere was involved in the magma-generating processes. The Late Pleistocene–Holocene basalt volcanism, which was spatially constrained to the peripheries of the Pliocene shield edifice, developed in an extensional environment as a result of the melting of an enriched mantle source. The attenuation and then complete termination of volcanic activity in the Sredinnyi Range in the Late Pleistocene–Holocene was associated with an increase in the ∆8/4Pb of the mafic lavas, which indicates that the center of the activity related to the oceanic asthenosphere shifted eastward toward the Central Kamchatka Depression. The influence of the oceanic asthenosphere on subduction-related magmatism is not unique to convergence zones alone and should be taken into consideration when models are constructed for the origin of juvenile continental crust.

New data on age, material composition and geological structure of the Central Kamchatka depression (CKD). Part 1. Rocks types. Age, petrological and isotopo-geochemical characteristicsн

The paper presents new age and isotope geochemical characteristics for plateau effusive rocks from the Central Kamchatka Depression (CKD) and Nikolka Volcano. We compared these data with the data on rocks from the Klyuchevskoy group of volcanoes and also Sheveluch, Kharchinsky, Zarechny, Nachikinsky, Bakening volcanoes and NEB-adakites from Pliocene shield volcano between the Ozernaya Kamchatka and Pravaya Kamchatka rivers. It is shown that the evolutionally advanced (often more alkaline) rock from Nachikinsky, Bakening, Nikolka volcanoes and the Pliocene shield volcanoe significantly differ in isotope-geochemical characteristics from the Klyuchevskoy group of volcanoes rocks. Exactly this type of rocks is characteristic for CKD as rift structure. The Klyuchevskoy group of volcanoes rock are not typomorphic for this structure and manifest the usual orogenic volcanism stage, typical for much larger area. Miocene plateau effusive rocks differ from rocks of this group only by slightly increased potassium alkalinity. The rift type rocks characteristic feature is not only their increased alkalinity, but also specific microcomponents ratios: Ti/V > 0.004, Nb/Y > 0.28, Dy/Yb > 2.00, La/Yb > 6.5, Sm/Yb > 2.4, Lu/Hf < 0.08. Along with isotopic characteristics, these ratios suggest the existence of the single deep asthenospheric mantle reservoir for initial melts. The Kurile-Kamchatka and Commander-Aleutian island-arc systems’ junction is marked by the increased fluid enrichment (Ce group of REE) of melts for rocks of certain volcanoes: Shiveluch, Kharchinsky, Zarechny.

New data on age, material composition and geological structure of the Central Kamchatka depression (CKD). Part 1. Rocks types. Age, petrological and isotopo-geochemical characteristicsн

The paper presents new age and isotope geochemical characteristics for plateau effusive rocks from the Central Kamchatka Depression (CKD) and Nikolka Volcano. We compared these data with the data on rocks from the Klyuchevskoy group of volcanoes and also Sheveluch, Kharchinsky, Zarechny, Nachikinsky, Bakening volcanoes and NEB-adakites from Pliocene shield volcano between the Ozernaya Kamchatka and Pravaya Kamchatka rivers. It is shown that the evolutionally advanced (often more alkaline) rock from Nachikinsky, Bakening, Nikolka volcanoes and the Pliocene shield volcanoe significantly differ in isotope-geochemical characteristics from the Klyuchevskoy group of volcanoes rocks. Exactly this type of rocks is characteristic for CKD as rift structure. The Klyuchevskoy group of volcanoes rock are not typomorphic for this structure and manifest the usual orogenic volcanism stage, typical for much larger area. Miocene plateau effusive rocks differ from rocks of this group only by slightly increased potassium alkalinity. The rift type rocks characteristic feature is not only their increased alkalinity, but also specific microcomponents ratios: Ti/V > 0.004, Nb/Y > 0.28, Dy/Yb > 2.00, La/Yb > 6.5, Sm/Yb > 2.4, Lu/Hf < 0.08. Along with isotopic characteristics, these ratios suggest the existence of the single deep asthenospheric mantle reservoir for initial melts. The Kurile-Kamchatka and Commander-Aleutian island-arc systems’ junction is marked by the increased fluid enrichment (Ce group of REE) of melts for rocks of certain volcanoes: Shiveluch, Kharchinsky, Zarechny.