Late Cretaceous subduction initiation and Palaeocene–Eocene slab breakoff magmatism in South-Central Anatolia,Turkey

The Late Cretaceous Alihoca ophiolite in the Inner Tauride suture zone (ITSZ) of South-Central Turkey represents part of a single ophiolitic thrust sheet that originated from the Inner Tauride ocean. The ophiolite contains upper mantle peridotites, cumulate wehrlites, layered-to-isotropic gabbros, and microgabbroic-to-doleritic dikes. An ophiolitic mélange beneath the Alihoca ophiolite includes blocks of limestone, peridotite, dolerite, basalt, and deep-sea sedimentary rocks (radiolarite, chert) in a matrix comprising sheared serpentinite and mudstone. Isotropic gabbro and dolerite dike rocks show enrichment in Sr, K, Rb, Ba, and Th (LILE) and depletion of Ta, Nb, Zr, Ti, and Y (HFSE), indicating an island arc tholeiite (IAT) affinity. Relatively younger dolerite rocks display low TiO₂ (<0.5 wt.%) contents, concave REE profiles with low HREE concentrations, and high LREE values, typical of boninitic affinities. The Alihoca ophiolite, hence, displays an IAT to boninitic geochemical progression in its magmatic evolution, reminiscent of many other Tethyan ophiolites in the region. It represents the remnant of a forearc oceanic crust, which developed during the early stages of subduction within the Inner Tauride ocean. Volcanic, volcano-sedimentary, and sedimentary rocks of the Uluk??la–Çamard? basin north of the ITSZ disconformably overlie the mafic-ultramafic rocks of the Alihoca ophiolite. Pillowed and massive lavas of the latest Cretaceous–Palaeocene Uluk??la Formation have alkaline basalt-to-basaltic andesite compositions, displaying relatively enriched LILE and LREE patterns with negative Nb and Ta anomalies. These geochemical features suggest that magmas of the Uluk??la–Çamard? volcanic rocks formed from partial melting of a metasomatized lithospheric mantle. This melting event was triggered by the influx of asthenospheric heat through a slab breakoff-induced window in the downgoing Tethyan oceanic lithosphere.     

Late Cretaceous Foraminiferal Faunas from the Saiqu “mélange” in Southern Tibet

As one of the mélanges in the southern side of the Yarlung-Zangbo suture zone, the Saiqu mélange in southern Tibet is important for understanding the evolution of the Neo-Tethys ocean. The age of the Saiqu mélange, however, has been debated due to the lack of reliable fossil evidence in matrix strata. Based on lithological similarities with platform strata in southern Tibet and limited fossils from exotic blocks, previous studies variously ascribed the Saiqu mélange to be Triassic in general, Late Triassic, or Late Cretaceous. Here we reported planktonic foraminiferal faunas from the matrix strata of the Saiqu mélange. The new fossils yield a Late Cretaceous age, which is so far the best age constraint for the mélange. Regional stratigraphic correlation indicates that the Cretaceous Oceanic Red Beds (CORBs) in Saiqu may be time equivalent to the CORBs of the Zongzhuo Formation in neighboring regions. Thus the Saiqu mélange should be correlated to the Upper Cretaceous Zongzhuo Formation rather than the Triassic Xiukang Group, as previously suggested.     

西藏果芒错蛇绿混杂岩中硅质岩的地球化学特征及其形成环境

果芒错蛇绿混杂岩位于狮泉河—永珠—嘉黎蛇绿混杂岩带中段,是该带中保存较好的一套蛇绿混杂岩,其形成环境是确定狮泉河—永珠—嘉黎蛇绿混杂岩带构造属性的重要依据。对果芒错蛇绿混杂岩中的硅质岩进行了地球化学分析,为判断蛇绿混杂岩的形成环境提供新的约束条件。硅质岩通常呈几十厘米夹层产于玄武岩中,含有大量晚三叠世—白垩纪放射虫化石。硅质岩SiO2含量为71.38%~77.67%,Al2O3含量为8.62%~11.51%,MnO/TiO2值为0.28~0.35,(Ce/Ce*)SN值为0.92~0.94,(La/Ce)SN值为1.13~1.17,反映了陆源物质的影响,而V、Ni、Cu和V/Y值高于大陆边缘硅质岩,与洋中脊和大洋盆地硅质岩相似,说明果芒错硅质岩可能形成于受陆源物质影响且与大陆边缘有一定距离的环境中。结合变质橄榄岩、镁铁质岩墙和玄武岩的地球化学特征,初步认为果芒错蛇绿混杂岩的形成环境为靠近大陆边缘的弧后盆地。     

Nature and evolution of the Neo-Tethys in central Tibet: synthesis of ophiolitic petrology,geochemistry, and geochronology

In this paper, we summarize results of studies on ophiolitic mélanges of the Bangong–Nujiang suture zone (BNSZ) and the Shiquanhe–Yongzhu–Jiali ophiolitic mélange belt (SYJMB) in central Tibet, and use these insights to constrain the nature and evolution of the Neo-Tethys oceanic basin in this region. The BNSZ is characterized by late Permian–Early Cretaceous ophiolitic fragments associated with thick sequences of Middle Triassic–Middle Jurassic flysch sediments. The BNSZ peridotites are similar to residual mantle related to mid-ocean-ridge basalts (MORBs) where the mantle was subsequently modified by interactions with the melt. The mafic rocks exhibit the mixing of various components, and the end-members range from MORB-types to island-arc tholeiites and ocean island basalts. The BNSZ ophiolites probably represent the main oceanic basin of the Neo-Tethys in central Tibet. The SYJMB ophiolitic sequences date from the Late Triassic to the Early Cretaceous, and they are dismembered and in fault contact with pre-Ordovician, Permian, and Jurassic–Early Cretaceous blocks. Geochemical and stratigraphic data are consistent with an origin in a short-lived intra-oceanic back-arc basin. The Neo-Tethys Ocean in central Tibet opened in the late Permian and widened during the Triassic. Southwards subduction started in the Late Triassic in the east and propagated westwards during the Jurassic. A short-lived back-arc basin developed in the middle and western parts of the oceanic basin from the Middle Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous. After the late Early Jurassic, the middle and western parts of the oceanic basin were subducted beneath the Southern Qiangtang terrane, separating the Nierong microcontinent from the Southern Qiangtang terrane. The closing of the Neo-Tethys Basin began in the east during the Early Jurassic and ended in the west during the early Late Cretaceous.     

西秦岭太白地区岩湾－鹦鸽咀蛇绿混杂岩的 地质特征及形成时代

岩湾-鹦鸽咀蛇绿混杂岩是秦岭商丹蛇绿混杂岩带的重要组成部分,由变质基性火山岩(玄武岩)、蛇纹岩、变辉长岩、硅质岩、变复理石(云母石英片岩)等构造岩块组成.其中变基性火山岩具有N-MORB的地球化学特征,安山岩具有与俯冲作用密切相关的岛弧火山岩的性质.玄武岩的锆石SHRIMP U-Pb年龄为483 Ma±13Ma,与天水关子镇和丹风蛇绿混杂岩的时代相一致.对岩湾-鹦鸽咀蛇绿混杂岩的岩石组成和形成时代进行研究,可为进一步探讨商丹蛇绿混杂岩带和秦岭造山带的增生造山作用提供重要证据.     

Geodynamic significance of the Cretaceous pillow basalts from North Anatolian Ophiolitic Mélange Belt (Central Anatolia,Turkey): geochemical and paleontological constraints

The most widespread blocks within the Cretaceous ophiolitic mélange (North Anatolian ophiolitic mélange) in Central Anatolia (Turkey) are pillow basalts, radiolarites, other ophiolitic fragments and Jurassic-Cretaceous carbonate blocks. The pillow basalts crop out as discrete blocks in close relation to radiolarites and ophiolitic units in Cretaceous ophiolitic mélange.

The geochemical results suggest that analyzed pillow basalts are within-plate ocean island alkali basalts. The enrichment of incompatible elements (Nb, Ta, Light REE, Th, U, Cs, Rb, Ba, K) demonstrates the ocean island environment (both tholeiites and alkali basalts) and enriched MORB. Dated calcareous intrafills and biodetrital carbonates reveal an age span of Callovian—Early Aptian. The thin-shelled protoglobigerinids, belonging to the genus Globuligerina, in the calcareous intrafills between pillow basalt lobes indicates a Callovian—Barremian age interval, most probably, Valanginian to Late Barremian. The volcanic and radiolarite detritus-bearing orbitolinid—Baccinella biodetrital carbonates dated as Late Barremian-Early Aptian in age, were probably deposited around atolls and have a close relationship with the ocean island pillow basalts.

The results collectively support the presence of a seamount on the Neo-Tethyan oceanic crust during the Valanginian—Late Barremian and atolls during the Late Barremian-Early Aptian interval. The presence of an oceanic crust older than that seamount along the Northern Branch of Neo-Tethys is conformable with the geodynamic evolution of the Tethys.     

How many sutures in the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt：Insights from East Xinjiang-West Gansu（NW China）？

How ophiolitic mèlanges can be defined as sutures is controversial with regard to accretionary orogenesis and continental growth.The Chinese Altay,East junggar,Tianshan,and Beishan belts of the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt（CAOB） in Northwest China,offer a special natural laboratory to resolve this puzzle.In the Chinese Altay,the Erqis unit consists of ophiolitic melanges and coherent assemblages,forming a Paleozoic accretionary complex.At least two ophiolitic melanges（Armantai,and Kelameili） in East Junggar,characterized by imbricated ophiolitic melanges,Nb-enriched basalts,adakitic rocks and volcanic rocks,belong to a Devonian-Carboniferous intra-oceanic island arc with some Paleozoic ophiolites,superimposed by Permian arc volcanism.In the Tianshan,ophiolitic melanges like Kanggurtag,North Tianshan,and South Tianshan occur as part of some Paleozoic accretionary complexes related to amalgamation of arc terranes.In the Beishan there are also several ophiolitic melanges,including the Hongshishan,Xingxingxia-Shibangjing,Hongliuhe-Xichangjing,and Liuyuan ophiolitic units.Most ophiolitic melanges in the study area are characterized by ultramafic,mafic and other components,which are juxtaposed,or even emplaced as lenses and knockers in a matrix of some coherent units.The tectonic settings of various components are different,and some adjacent units in the same melange show contrasting different tectonic settings.The formation ages of these various components are in a wide spectrum,varying from Neoproterozoic to Permian.Therefore we cannot assume that these ophiolitic melanges always form in linear sutures as a result of the closure of specific oceans.Often the ophiolitic components formed either as the substrate of intra-oceanic arcs,or were accreted as lenses or knockers in subduction-accretion complexes.Using published age and paleogeographic constraints,we propose the presence of （1） a major early Paleozoic tectonic boundary that separates the Chinese Altay-East Junggar multiple subduction system     

中亚造山带东段西拉木伦构造带的性质与演化：来自变形和低温热年代学的约束

中亚造山带东段何时与何地关闭,从俯冲到关闭的过程以及随后的陆内演化又经历了什么主要事件,目前还存在不同认识。中亚造山带东段林西地区的蛇绿混杂岩及其周围地区的区域地质调查表明,以杏树洼蛇绿混杂岩和双井片岩为代表的西拉木伦河构造带是一个晚古生代的增生楔,在该混杂岩带中发育了典型的岩块被包裹在基质中的构造。该楔体被中、晚二叠世克德河砾岩所覆盖。增生楔中最早的近东西向构造代表了向南俯冲阶段的变形,随后继续经历向北的逆冲推覆,卷入了中、晚二叠世地层,形成了碰撞期的变形;在晚二叠世末期—三叠纪早期,蛇绿混杂岩以及上覆的克德河砾岩又经历了区域性的强烈的右行韧性剪切,并发生应变分解。晚二叠世区域性的右行韧性剪切在中亚造山带南缘普遍发育,代表了中亚造山带已经全部进入陆内环境。双井片岩也经历了与蛇绿混杂岩类似的变形事件,在增生楔下部经历变质作用,并在碰撞期抬升至地表,晚期为区域性的右行剪切。同时,结合锆石与磷灰石低温热年代学测试表明,双井片岩和蛇绿混杂岩共同经历了中、晚侏罗世源自北侧蒙古-阿霍茨克大洋关闭导致的近南北向挤压、早白垩世期间遍及东亚的区域性伸展以及晚白垩世短暂的构造反转事件。     

Polyphase brittle and ductile deformation of Late Jurassic ophiolitic basalt-argillite matrix mélange and stratigraphic overlap sequence,northwestern Washington State

A belt of Jurassic to Cretaceous ophiolitic rocks borders the western margin of the U.S. Cordillera and stretches from central California to northwestern Washington State. The northern end of this belt lies between the San Juan Islands and the Northwest Cascades. Within this region, ophiolitic rocks consist of a succession of oceanic and arc-affinity igneous and sedimentary rocks which form a sedimentary mélange and sedimentary overlap sequence which is imbricated during the mid-Cretaceous. The mélange contains blocks and olistoliths of peridotite, plagiogranite, chert, basalt, and volcanoclastic conglomerate which range in size from a meter to over 1 km and are contained within a matrix of argillite and volcanoclastic breccia and conglomerate. Peridotites were exposed to the sub-aqueous surface along serpentinized shear zones prior to their incorporation into the mélange, and the sedimentary matrix of the mélange underwent brittle deformation during the earliest stages of its structural history. Mélange rocks are overlain in angular unconformity by a Jura-Cretaceous arc-sourced sedimentary succession which is at least 500 meters thick and passes upward from a basal breccia containing clasts of plagiogranite, gabbro, tonalite, chert, and basalt into argillite containing Late Jurassic radiolarians. The argillite is overlain by poorly-sorted greywacke and conglomerate with clast populations similar to those of the basal breccia. The conglomerate fines upward into a massive to bedded, feldspathic-lithic arenite and greywacke that yields mid-Cretaceous detrital zircons. The overlap succession and the mélange are deformed by two generations of highly-penetrative structures (D_1a and D_1b) which produced north-to-east vergent tight-to-isoclinal folds and axial-planar pressure-solution cleavages. All units are further deformed by three generations of penetrative structures. The successively younger NNE to NW, NE, and E-W to WNW trending folds have foliations that cross-cut the earlier structural fabrics and faults. Formation of the mélange required differential elevations during the time of deposition and the presence of rocks which are sourced from both arc and oceanic crust. Extension within the forearc provides a mechanism to exhume peridotites and generate differential topography for arc and oceanic affinity rocks to erode and be incorporated into the mélange as part of olistostromal deposits.     

Jurassic and Cretaceous radiolarian assemblages from the Bornova mélange in northern Karaburun Peninsula (western Turkey) and its connection to the İzmir–Ankara mélanges

Two large blocks of red bedded chert identified within the Late Cretaceous–Paleocene Bornova mélange in northern Karaburun Peninsula yielded Jurassic (late Bathonian–early Oxfordian) and Cretaceous (middle–late Albian) radiolarian assemblages. These new data confirm the correlation of the Bornova mélange with the Bornova Flysch Zone (BFZ) and the ?zmir–Ankara mélanges. A review of all previously obtained ages in chert blocks of the BFZ and the ?zmir–Ankara mélanges is provided in order to strengthen this correlation.     

新疆吐尔库班套蛇绿混杂岩的发现及其地质意义

蛇绿岩作为残留洋壳的良好记录,对于研究古板块构造及其演化具有重要意义。新发现的吐尔库班套蛇绿混杂岩位于新疆阿尔泰布尔津南部,主要由超镁铁岩、辉长岩、辉绿岩、玄武岩、复理石建造等构成。其中辉长岩和片麻状花岗岩的锆石U Pb年龄在363～355 Ma,指示蛇绿岩的形成、洋壳俯冲时代在晚泥盆世晚期。岩石地球化学特征表明,该蛇绿岩套的镁铁超镁铁岩和玄武岩属低碱、低钛、富镁的拉斑玄武岩系列,具有较典型的幔源岩石特征,玄武岩形成于类似洋中脊的构造环境。混杂岩带中的片麻状花岗岩属于钠质的低钾岩石系列,形成于火山弧或同碰撞构造环境,亦为洋壳俯冲的结果。吐尔库班套蛇绿岩与科克森套、乔夏哈拉、布尔根蛇绿岩一起构成了沿额尔齐斯分布的蛇绿混杂岩带,构成了分割西伯利亚板块和哈萨克斯坦-准噶尔板块的斋桑-科克森套-南蒙古缝合带。     

Geology of southeast Bohol,central Philippines: Accretion and sedimentation in a marginal basin

Recent field mapping has refined our understanding of the stratigraphy and geology of southeastern Bohol, which is composed of a Cretaceous basement complex subdivided into three distinct formations. The basal unit, a metamorphic complex named the Alicia Schist, is overthrust by the Cansiwang mélange, which is, in turn, structurally overlain by the Southeast Bohol Ophiolite Complex. The entire basement complex is overlain unconformably by a ～2000 m thick sequence of Lower Miocene to Pleistocene carbonate and clastic sedimentary rocks and igneous units. Newly identified lithostratigraphic units in the area include the Cansiwang mélange, a tectonic mélange interpreted as an accretionary prism, and the Lumbog Volcaniclastic Member of the Lower Miocene Carmen Formation. The Cansiwang mélange is sandwiched between the ophiolite and the metamorphic complex, suggesting that the Alicia Schist was not formed in response to emplacement of the Southeast Bohol Ophiolite Complex. The accretionary prism beneath the ophiolite complex and the presence of boninites suggest that the Southeast Bohol Ophiolite Complex was emplaced in a forearc setting. The Southeast Bohol Ophiolite Complex formed during the Early Cretaceous in a suprasubduction zone environment related to a southeast‐facing arc (using present‐day geographical references). The accretion of this ophiolite complex was followed by a period of erosion and then later by extensive clastic and carbonate rock deposition (Carmen Formation, Sierra Bullones Limestone and Maribojoc Limestone). The Lumbog Volcaniclastic Member and Jagna Andesite document intermittent Tertiary volcanism in southeastern Bohol.     

The Petrology, Geochemistry, and Petrogenesis of E-MORB-type Mafic Rocks from the Guomangco Ophiolitic Mélange, Tibet

The Guomangco ophiolitic melange is situated in the middle part of the Shiquanhe- Yongzhu-Jiali ophiolitic melange belt （SYJMB） and possesses all the subunits of a typical Penrose- type ophiolite pseudostratigraphy. The study of the Guomangco ophiolitic melange is very important for investigating the tectonic evolution of the SYJMB. The mafic rocks of this ophiolitic melange mainly include diabases, sillite dikes, and basalts. Geochemical analysis shows that these dikes mostly have E-MORB major and trace element signatures; this is the first time that this has been observed in the SYJMB. The basalts have N-MORB and IAB affinities, and the mineral chemistry of harzburgites shows a composition similar to that of SSZ peridotites, indicating that the Guomangco ophiolitic melange probably originated in a back-arc basin. The Guomangco back-arc basin opened in the Middle Jurassic, which was caused by southward subduction of the Neo-Tethys Ocean in central Tibet. The main spreading of this back-arc basin occurred during the Late Jurassic, and the basalts were formed during this time. With the development of the back-arc basin, the subducted slab gradually retreated, and new mantle convection occurred in the mantle wedge. The recycling may have caused the metasomatized mantle to undergo a high degree of partial melting and to generate E- MORBs in the Early Cretaceous. E-MORB-type dikes probably crystallized from melts produced by about 20%-30% partial melting of a spinel mantle source, which was metasomatized by melts from low-degree partial melting of the subducted slab.     

Palaeozoic multiphase magmatism at Barleik Mountain,southern West Junggar,Northwest China: implications for tectonic evolution of the West Junggar

The West Junggar lies in the southwest part of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) and consists of Palaeozoic ophiolitic mélanges, island arcs, and accretionary complexes. The Barleik ophiolitic mélange comprises several serpentinite-matrix strips along a NE-striking fault at Barleik Mountain in the southern West Junggar. Several small late Cambrian (509–503 Ma) diorite-trondhjemite plutons cross-cut the ophiolitic mélange. These igneous bodies are deformed and display island arc calc-alkaline affinities. Both the mélange and island arc plutons are uncomfortably covered by Devonian shallow-marine and terrestrial volcano-sedimentary rocks and Carboniferous volcano-sedimentary rocks. Detrital zircons (n = 104) from the Devonian sandstone yield a single age population of 452–517 million years, with a peak age of 474 million years. The Devonian–Carboniferous strata are invaded by an early Carboniferous (327 Ma) granodiorite, late Carboniferous (315–311 Ma) granodiorites, and an early Permian (277 Ma) K-feldspar granite. The early Carboniferous pluton is coeval with subduction-related volcano-sedimentary strata in the central West Junggar, whereas the late Carboniferous–early Permian intrusives are contemporary with widespread post-collisional magmatism in the West Junggar and adjacent regions. They are typically undeformed or only slightly deformed.

Our data reveal that island arc calc-alkaline magmatism occurred at least from middle Cambrian to Late Ordovician time as constrained by igneous and detrital zircon ages. After accretion to another tectonic unit to the south, the ophiolitic mélange and island arc were exposed, eroded, and uncomfortably overlain by the Devonian shallow-marine and terrestrial volcano-sedimentary strata. The early Carboniferous arc-related magmatism might reflect subduction of the Junggar Ocean in the central Junggar. Before the late Carboniferous, the oceanic basins apparently closed in this area. These different tectonic units were stitched together by widespread post-collisional plutons in the West Junggar during the late Carboniferous–Permian. Our data from the southern West Junggar and those from the central and northern West Junggar and surroundings consistently indicate that the southwest part of the CAOB was finally amalgamated before the Permian.     

Genesis of the Batinah mélange above the Semail ophiolite,Oman

The Batinah mélange which overlies the late Cretaceous Semail ophiolite in the northern Oman Mountains comprises mostly sedimentary rocks of deep-water facies, alkalic lavas and intrusives, all of continental margin affinities, together with smaller volumes of Semail ophiolitic and metamorphic rocks. Four intergradational textural types of mélange can be recognized. Sheet mélange has large (>1 km) intact sheets either with little intervening matrix or set in other mélange types, and with an organised sheet orientation fabric. Slab mélange is finer textured (>100 m) and more disrupted. Block mélange has smaller (> m) blocks with some matrix and a weak to random block fabric. Clast mélange is matrix-supported rudite with a weak depositional clast fabric. Structural relationships, particularly the absence of tectonic fabrics, the decreasing strength of fragment fabrics with increasing fragmentation, and the abundance of brittle fragmentation, suggest that these mélange types formed by either gravity-driven sedimentary processes or superficial sliding or thrusting of individual rock slabs.In the slab mélange, long sequences can be pieced together, passing up from Upper Triassic mafic sub-marine extrusives and sediments into radiolarian cherts, hemipelagic and redeposited limestones, and terminating in non-calcareous radiolarities with Mn-deposits of early Cretaceous age. Mafic sills are numerous. These sequences can be matched with sub-ophiolite rocks now exposed in fault corridors through the Semail. These sequences become progressively disrupted upwards in the corridors and can be traced continuously into overlying mélange, which then thins away from the corridors.We argue that, during late Cretaceous emplacement over the Arabian margin, active fault corridors split the Semail slab and acted as conduits up which sub-ophiolite rocks were supplied to the ophiolite surface. There the rocks were redisributed by superficial processes.     

波密地区帕隆藏布残留蛇绿混杂岩带的发现及其意义

在进行1：25万墨脱幅地质调查中，笔者首次在波密地区发现和填绘出了帕隆藏布残留蛇绿混杂岩带。帕窿藏布残留蛇绿混杂岩呈串珠状产出于花岗岩类侵入岩中，其岩石组合为橄揽辉石岩、辉石岩、辉长岩、辉长辉绿岩、辉绿岩、石英岩和大理岩，局部可见条带状硅质岩。上述组分之间的相互关系表明，蛇绿岩在花岗岩类岩石侵入之前发生过构造混杂和变形。根据沉积岩所记录的盆地演化过程、蛇绿岩的Rb-Sr年龄值以及残留蛇绿混杂岩带两刨花岗岩类岩石的特征和生成时代综合分析认为：帕隆藏布残留蛇绿混杂岩带形成于石炭-二叠纪的弧间盆地中，至少在晚三叠纪之前出现洋壳，在消减过程中向北俯冲并在中侏罗世之前闭合(弧-弧碰撞)。     

Geochemical characteristics and age of metamorphic sole rocks within a Neotethyan ophiolitic mélange from Konya region (central southern Turkey)

Palaeo- and Neo-Tethyan-related magmatic and metamorphic units crop out in Konya region in the south central Anatolia. The Neotethyan assemblage is characterized by mélange and ophiolitic units of Late Cretaceous age. They tectonically overlie the Middle Triassic–Upper Cretaceous neritic to pelagic carbonates of the Tauride platform. The metamorphic sole rocks within the Konya mélange crop out as thin slices beneath the sheared serpentinites and harzburgites. The rock types in the metamorphic sole are amphibolite, epidote-amphibolite, garnet-amphibole schist, plagioclase-amphibole schist, plagioclase-epidote-amphibole schist and quartz-amphibole schist. The geochemistry of the metamorphic sole rocks suggests that they were derived from the alkaline (seamount) and tholeiitic (E-MORB, IAT and boninitic type) magmatic rocks from the upper part of the Neotethyan oceanic crust. Four samples from the amphibolitic rocks yielded ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar isotopic ages, ranging from 87.04 ± .36 Ma to 84.66 ± .30 Ma. Comparison of geochemistry and geochronology for the amphibolitic rocks suggests that the alkaline amphibolite (seamount-type) cooled below 510 ± 25 °C at 87 Ma whereas the tholeiitic amphibolites at 85 Ma during intraoceanic thrusting/subduction. When all the evidence combined together, the intraoceanic subduction initiated in the vicinity of an off-axis plume or a plume-centered spreading ridge in the Inner Tauride Ocean at 87 Ma. During the later stage of the steady-state subduction, the E-MORB volcanics on the top of the down-going slab and the arc-type basalts (IAT/boninitic) detached from the leading edge of the overriding plate, entered the subduction zone after ~2 my and metamorphosed to amphibolite facies in the Inner Tauride Ocean. Duration of the intraoceanic detachment (~87 Ma) and ophiolite emplacement onto the Tauride-Anatolide Platform (Tav?anl? Zone), followed by subsequent HP/LT metamorphism (~82 Ma) spanned ~5 my in the western part of the Inner Tauride Ocean.     

The Wadi Zaghra metasediments of Sinai,Egypt: new constraints on the late Cryogenian–Ediacaran tectonic evolution of the northernmost Arabian–Nubian Shield

ABSTRACT

The La Tinta mélange is a small but singular ultramafic mélange sheet that crops out in eastern Cuba. It is composed of dolerite-derived amphibolite blocks embedded in a serpentinite matrix. The amphibolite blocks have mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB)-like composition showing little if any imprint of subduction zone component, similar to most forearc and MOR basalts worldwide. Relict Cr-spinel and olivine mineral chemistry of the serpentinized ultramafic matrix suggest a forearc position for these rocks. These characteristics, together with a hornblende ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age of 123.2 ± 2.2 Ma from one of the amphibolite blocks, suggest that the protoliths of the amphibolite blocks correspond to forearc basalt (FAB)-related rocks that formed during the earlier stage of subduction initiation of the Early Cretaceous Caribbean arc. We propose that the La Tinta amphibolites correspond to fragments of sills and dikes of hypoabyssal rocks formed in the earlier stages of a subduction initiation scenario in the Pacific realm (ca. 136 Ma). The forearc dolerite-derived amphibolites formed by partial melting of upwelling fertile asthenosphere at the beginning of subduction of the Proto-Caribbean (Atlantic) slab, with no interaction with slab-derived fluids/melts. This magmatic episode probably correlates with Early Cretaceous basic rocks described in Hispaniola (Gaspar Hernandez serpentinized peridotite-tectonite). The dikes and sills cooled and metamorphosed due to hydration at low pressure (ca. 3.8 kbar) and medium to high temperature (up to 720ºC) and reached ca. 500ºC at ca. 123 Ma. At this cooling stage, serpentinite formed after hydration of the ultramafic upper mantle. This process might have been favoured by faulting during extension of the forearc, indicating an early stage of dike and sill fragmentation and serpentinite mélanges formation; however, full development of the mélange likely took place during tectonic emplacement (obduction) onto the thrust belt of eastern Cuba during the latest Cretaceous.     

Tectonic,diapiric and sedimentary chaotic rocks of the Rakhine coast,western Myanmar

The western margin of Myanmar is the northern extension the active Sunda (India-Eurasia) subduction zone. Coastal regions and offshore islands have remarkable exposures of chaotic rock terranes along wave-cut terraces that allow characteristics of tectonic, sedimentary and diapiric mélanges to be recognized. Tectonic shear zones (tectonic mélanges) contain fragments of Cretaceous ophiolites (chrome-spinel-bearing peridotites and radiolarian cherts) that are in contact with thrust packets of Eocene turbidite units (broken formations). The turbidites contain shale-rich beds that have been sheared during soft-sediment deformation (sedimentary broken formations) and are sandwiched between undeformed thick sandy beds. These are mass transport deposits (MTDs) that most likely formed during deposition of the initial detritus of the Himalayan orogenic zone, probably trench slope basins on the accretionary prism. The ophiolitic and turbiditic thrust slices have been exhumed and are currently being intruded by active mud volcanoes that bring fragments of units up from depth to the surface, forming diapiric mélanges. These diapiric mélange bodies contain only small fragments (<50 cm) that are randomly oriented and do not exhibit shear fabrics. Because the region lacks superimposed deformation characteristic of most orogenic belts, the origins of all three rock bodies can easily be distinguished.     

内蒙古乌斯尼黑蛇绿混杂岩带形成时代的地质新证据

贺根山-乌斯尼黑蛇绿混杂岩带的属性和形成时代存在明显的认识上的分歧.早期认为是二叠纪侵入的超镁铁质岩体.该超镁铁质岩体侵入了下二叠统格根敖包组,并被哲斯组地层不整合覆盖,形成时代为二叠纪.20世纪80年代以来,通过中国北方板块构造研究,在硅质岩中采集到的一系列化石资料表明,贺根山地区蛇绿混杂岩的形成时代应为中-晚泥盆世...