Continental flood basalts derived from the hydrous mantle transition zone (original) (raw)
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Precambrian Research, 2010
A Paleozoic ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic (UHPM) belt extends along the northern margin of the Qaidam Basin, North Tibetan Plateau. Eclogites in the Yuka eclogite terrane, northwest part of this UHPM belt, occur as blocks or layers of varying size intercalated with granitic and pelitic gneisses. These eclogites have protoliths geochemically similar to enriched-type mid-ocean ridge basalts (E-MORB) and oceanic island basalts (OIB). On the basis of Ti/Y ratios, they can be divided into low-Ti and high-Ti groups. The low-Ti group (LTG) eclogites exhibit relatively low TiO2 (most <2.5 wt%) and Ti/Y (<500) but comparatively high Mg# (48–55), whereas the high-Ti group (HTG) eclogites have high TiO2 (most >2.5 wt%) and Ti/Y (>500) but lower Mg# (46–52). Zircons from two eclogite samples gave a magmatic crystallization (protolith) age of ∼850 Ma and a UHPM age of ∼433 Ma. The occurrence, geochemical features and age data of the Yuka eclogites suggest that their protoliths are segments of continental flood basalts (CFBs) with a mantle plume origin, similar to most typical CFBs. Our observation, together with the tectonic history and regional geologic context, lend support for the large scale onset of mantle plume within the Rodinia supercontinent at ∼850 Ma. The Qaidam block is probably one of the fragments of the Rodinia supercontinent with a volcanic-rifted passive margin. The latter may have been dragged to mantle depths by its subducting leading edge of the oceanic lithosphere in the Early Paleozoic.
Understanding the processes involved in the transformation of juvenile basaltic oceanic arc crust into mature continental crust remains a key challenge in Earth sciences. In this contribution, we present a comprehensive synthesis of in situ zircon U-Pb age and Hf-O isotope data for Paleozoic intrusions within the West Junggar oceanic arc, NW China. Our study reveals four distinct pulses of magmatic activity: Early Cambrian to Early Ordovician (515 to 486 Ma); Late Ordovician to Middle Devonian (445 to 392 Ma); Early Carboniferous (343 to 310 Ma) and Late Carboniferous to Middle Permian (309 to 259 Ma). These pulses have varied spatial and temporal distributions. All magmatic rocks display consistently high zircon Hf and whole-rock Nd isotope values, but substantial variations in zircon O isotopes. There are two groups of intrusions: those with high zircon δ 18 O (>6.5‰) and those with mantle-like zircon δ 18 O (ca. 5.5‰). The high zircon δ 18 O intrusions are predominantly concentrated in the southern West Junggar and their Hf and Nd isotopes indicate the involvement of supracrustal material and juvenile basaltic crust in their petrogenesis. Binary mixing calculations indicate a contribution from the supracrustal rocks ranging from 10% to 50%. The intrusions with mantle-like zircon δ 18 O are found primarily in northern West Junggar with a small amount occurring in southern West Junggar. The intrusions record a variety of magma sources and processes as demonstrated by Hf-O isotope and geochemical data. These data indicate partial melting of metasomatized depleted mantle, mixing of depleted mantle and juvenile crust, and partial melting of trapped juvenile oceanic crust or mafic lower crust. Hf model ages reveal significant crustal growth in the West Junggar, characterized by three distinct episodes of crust formation occurring at approximately 656-684 Ma, 524-536 Ma, and 441-471 Ma, involving periodic remelting of igneous material derived from a depleted mantle source. This newly-formed crust maintains a mantle-like oxygen isotope composition despite being repeatedly sampled by magmas for up to 0.26 Ga. Since the timing of crustal growth occurred independently of the major magmatic pulses, the latter reflect primarily reworking and remelting processes. Two significant episodes of magmatic activity, the late Silurian to early Devonian and the late Carboniferous to early Permian, preserve a signature of ocean ridge subduction. High-temperature magmatism during these periods promoted extensive melting of the mafic lower crust, oceanic crust, and supracrustal rocks, leading to the compositional transformation from basaltic to felsic continental crust. This comprehensive compilation provides valuable insights into granite petrogenesis, crustal evolution, and the diverse processes involved in the maturation of oceanic arc crust and its contribution to continental crust formation and evolution.
Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 2019
The widespread Cenozoic basalts in northeast China are commonly thought to be related to the stagnation of the Pacific slab in the transition zone and its deep dehydration. By incorporating experimentally constrained phase diagrams of hydrous mantle and melting conditions at high pressures into two‐dimensional petrological‐thermomechanical models, here we model the interaction of a subducting slab with a hydrous transition zone (TZ) and examine its potential role in generating intracontinental magmatism. The model results show that descending of the oceanic slab first forces up the material in the TZ. Depending on the water content in the TZ, the upwelling hydrous material may undergo dehydration melting above the TZ. As a large slab stagnates within the TZ owing to the lower mantle resistance, the deep melting migrates progressively toward the overriding continent's interior, generating plutonic/volcanic rocks in the continental crust far away from the trench. The amount of dee...
Gondwana Research, 2009
Ca. 825-720 Ma global continental intraplate magmatism is generally linked to mantle plumes or a mantle superplume that caused rifting and fragmentation of the supercontinent Rodinia. Widespread Neoproterozoic igneous rocks in South China are dated at ca. 825-760 Ma. There is a hot debate on their petrogenesis and tectonic affiliations, i.e., mantle plume/rift settings or collision/arc settings. Such competing interpretations have contrasting implications to the position of South China in the supercontinent Rodinia and in Rodinia reconstruction models. Variations in the bulk-rock compositions of primary basaltic melts can provide first order constraints on the mantle thermal-chemical structure, and thus distinguish between the plume/rift and arc/collision models. Whole-rock geochemical data of 14 mid-Neoproterozoic (825-760 Ma) basaltic successions are reviewed here in order to (1) estimate the primary melts compositions; (2) calculate the melting conditions and mantle potential temperature; and (3) identify the contributions of subcontinental lithosphere mantle (SCLM) and asenthospheric mantles to the generation of these basaltic rocks. In order to quantify the mantle potential temperatures and percentages of decompression melting, the primary MgO, FeO, and SiO 2 contents of basalts are calculated through carefully selecting less-evolved samples using a melting model based on the partitioning of FeO and MgO in olivine. The mid-Neoproterozoic (825-760 Ma) potential temperatures predicted from the primary melts range from 1390°C to 1630°C (mostly N1480°C), suggesting that most 825-760 Ma basaltic rocks in South China were generated by melting of anomalously hot mantle sources with potential temperatures 80-200°C higher than the ambient Middle Ocean Ridge Basalt (MORB)-source mantle. The mantle source regions of these Neoproterozoic basaltic rocks have complex histories and heterogeneous compositions. Enriched mantle sources (e.g., pyroxenite and eclogite) are recognized as an important source for the Bikou and Suxiong basalts, suggesting that their generations may have involved recycled components. Trace elements variations show that interactions between asthenospheric mantle (OIB-type mantle) and SCLM played a very important role in generation of the 825-760 Ma basalts. Our results indicate that the SCLM metasomatized by subduction-induced melts/fluids during the 1.0-0.9 Ga orogenesis as a distinct geochemical reservoir that contributed significantly to the trace-elements and isotope inventory of these basalts. The continental intraplate geochemical signatures (e.g., OIB-type), high mantle potential temperatures and recycled components suggest the presence of a mantle plume beneath the Neoproterozoic South China block. We use the available data to develop an integrated plume-lithosphere interaction model for the ca. 825-760 Ma basalts. The early phases of basaltic rocks (825-810 Ma) were most likely formed by melting within the metasomatized SCLM heated by the rising mantle plume. The subsequent continental rift allowed adiabatic decompression partial melting of an upwelling mantle plumes at relatively shallow depth to form the widespread syn-rifting basaltic rocks at ca. 810-800 Ma and 790-760 Ma.
Lithos, 2016
Petrogenesis of the ca. 310 Ma Benbatu basalts in central Inner Mongolia is crucial for constraining the evolution of the Xing'an Mongolia Orogenic Belt (XMOB), eastern segment of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. The Benbatu basalts have low initial 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios (0.7042-0.7048), positive εNd(t) (+8.99-+9.24) and εHf(t) values (+15.38-+15.65), and are characterized by relatively flat rare earth element patterns and enrichment of Rb, U, Pb, Zr and Hf, but depletion of Nb, Ta, Sr and Ti, resembling to those of the normal Mid-Ocean-Ridge Basalt (N-MORB). Variations of trace element ratios (e.g., Sm/Yb and La/Sm) suggest that the basalts were derived from spinel peridotites, with a melting depth of <60-85 km. The characteristics of enrichment of Zr and Hf and depletion of Sr distinguish the Benbatu basalts from typical arc basalts and back arc basin basalts. The arc-like geochemical signatures (i.e., enrichment of large ion lithophile elements and depletion of Nb and Ta) are attributed to hydrated mantle source that may be caused by fluids released from stagnant oceanic slabs in the mantle transition zone. Integrating geological evidences with geochemical and isotopic features of the Benbatu basalts, we proposed that these basalts were produced under an intraplate extensional setting during the Late Carboniferous. The genesis of the Benbatu basalts therefore argues for the pre-Carboniferous accretion of the XMOB and highlights the importance of the deep-Earth recycling water in the generation of the Late Carboniferous magmatism in this region.
Lithos, 2018
The late Mesozoic igneous province in southeast China provides an excellent opportunity to understand the processes that controlled the growth and evolution of Phanerozoic continental crust. Here we report petrological, whole-rock geochemical and isotopic data, and in situ zircon U-Pb-Lu-Hf isotopic data from granitoids and associated gabbros in the Pingtan and Tong'an complexes, southeast China. Through combining the new results with published datasets in southeast China, we show that the Early Cretaceous magmatic rocks are dominated by juvenile Nd-Hf isotopic compositions, whereas the Late Cretaceous ones display less radiogenic Nd-Hf isotope signatures. Furthermore, Nd-Hf isotope systematics are coupled with decreasing abundance of hydrous minerals and an increase of zircon saturation temperatures. Compiled zircon Hf-O data indicates that the 117-116 Ma granites have zircon 18 O values ranging from mantle values (close to 5.3‰) to as low as 3.9‰, but with dominantly positive initial epsilon Hf ( Hf (t)) values. Zircon grains from 105-98 Ma rocks have 18 O values plotting within the mantle-like range (6.5‰−4.5‰), but mainly with negative Hf (t) values. Zircon grains from ca. 87 Ma rocks have positive Hf (t) values (+9.8 to +0.7) and a large range of 18 O values (6.3‰−3.5‰). The variations in Hf-Nd-O isotopic compositions are correlated with decreasing abundance of magma water contents, presenting a case that water-fluxed melting generated large-scale granitic magmatism. Deep-Earth water cycling provides
Terra Nova, 2020
Geochemical data compilation of Cenozoic basalts recovered from the South China Sea tectonic domain shows westward weakening of the influence of a focal zone‐like component in Nd–Hf, Nd–Pb and Sr–Pb, but not in Pb–Pb isotope spaces because the Pb isotopes are dominantly controlled by the high U/Pb component derived from the subducted Pacific oceanic slab. Low Th/U melt generated by recycling of marine carbonates, rather than the subduction‐related enriched mantle (EM2), signals the emplacement of the Hainan Plume at ~25 Ma. Radiogenic Hf in the pre‐existing ancient sub‐continental lithospheric mantle beneath the Cathaysia Block was greatly depleted by early‐stage magmatism influenced by the high U/Pb component. Hence, late Cenozoic basalts associated with the carbonatitic melts display contrasting Nd–Hf isotope covariations, with the Red River–Zhongnan Fault System as a dividing line, implying that the East and Southwest sub‐basins have been developed on the Cathaysia and Indochina ...
Basaltic rocks from Shuangliao, northeast China include basanite, alkali olivine basalt, transitional basalt and sub-alkaline diabase. Ar-Ar dating shows that the basanites and alkali olivine basalts formed earlier (48.5-51 Ma) than the transitional basalts and diabases (43-41.6 Ma). These rocks have the highest Fe 2 O 3 contents (13.4-14.6 wt.%) and lowest ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) i ratios (b0.703) among the Cenozoic basalts from eastern China. On a primitive-mantle normalized variation diagram, they show positive Eu, Sr, Nb and Ta anomalies, and depletion in very incompatible elements (Rb, Ba, Th, U), reminiscent of HIMU-type oceanic island basalts. In particular, the basanites possess noticeable negative K anomalies. Nevertheless, their Pb isotopic compositions ( 206 Pb/ 204 Pb = 18.13-18.34) do not show the high time-integrated 238 U/ 204 Pb mantle component expected for a HIMU basalt. On a 206 Pb/ 204 Pb versus 207 Pb/ 204 Pb diagram, most samples straddle the Northern Hemisphere Reference Line (NHRL), in salient contrast to the majority of Chinese Cenozoic basalts, which plot above the NHRL. These data, as well as a comparison with high-pressure experimental melts, are consistent with the presence of young subducted oceanic crust (SOC) in the source of Shuangliao basalts. Varying ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) i , La/Nb and Eu/Eu* with rock-type suggests that the upper oceanic crust (with variable amount of lower oceanic crust) was preferentially sampled by earlier (51-48 Ma), highly alkaline rocks, whereas the lower oceanic crust was predominantly sampled in later (41-43 Ma) transitional basalts and diabases. This temporal trend is attributed to the differential melting of a heterogeneous source in association with lithospheric thinning, during which fusible upper oceanic crust melted earlier than lower oceanic crust and peridotites. We postulate that the SOC components may have been derived from the seismically detected stagnant Pacific slab within the mantle transition zone. This hypothesis is supported by the same Indian MORB-like isotopic composition being found in the Shuangliao basalts and in the extinct Izanaghi-Pacific plate of NW Pacific. The latter has been subducting underneath the eastern Asian continent since the early Cretaceous.