Generation of new continental crust by sublithospheric silicic-magma relamination in arcs: A test of Taylor's andesite model

The paradox of the Earth's continental crust is that although this reservoir is generally regarded as having differentiated from the mantle, it has an andesitic bulk composition that contrasts with the intrinsic basaltic composition of mantle-derived melts. Classical models for new crust generation from the mantle in two-stage processes fail to account for two fundamental facts: the absence of ultramafic residues in the lower crust and the hot temperature of batholith magma generation. Other models based on the arrival of already-fractionated silicic magmas to the crust have not received the necessary attention. Addition of new crust by relamination from below of subducted materials has been formulated as a process complementary to delamination of mafic residues. Here we show important support to relamination from below the lithosphere as an important mechanism for new crust generation in magmatic arcs of active continental margins and mature intraoceanic arcs. The new support is based on three independent lines: (1) thermo-mechanical modeling of subduction zones, (2) experimental phase relations and melt compositions of subducted materials and (3) geochemical relations between mafic granulites (lower crust) and batholiths (upper crust). The mineral assemblage and bulk geochemistry of lower crust rocks are compared with solid residues left after granite melt segregation. The implication is that an andesite magma precursor is responsible for the generation of new continental crust at active continental margins and mature oceanic arcs. According to our numerical and laboratory experiments, melting and eventual reaction with the mantle of subducted oceanic crust and sediments produce the andesite magmas. These ascend in the form of mantle wedge diapirs and are finally attached (relaminated) to the continental crust, where they crystallize partially and produce the separation of the solid fraction to form mafic granulites (lower crust) and granitic (sl) liquids to form the batholiths (upper crust).     

Appinite suites and their genetic relationship with coeval voluminous granitoid batholiths

ABSTRACT

Appinite complexes preserve evidence of mantle processes that produce voluminous granitoid batholiths. These plutonic complexes range from ultramafic to felsic in composition, deep to shallow emplacement, and from Neo-Archean to Recent in age. Appinites are a textural family characterized by idiomorphic hornblende in all lithologies, and spectacular textures including coarse-grained mafic pegmatites, fine-grained ‘salt-and-pepper’ gabbros, as well as planar and linear fabrics. Magmas are bimodal (mafic-felsic) in composition; ultramafic rocks are cumulates, intermediate rocks are hybrids. Their geochemistry is profoundly influenced by a mantle wedge extensively metasomatized by fluids/magmas produced by subduction. Melting of spinel peridotite sub-continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) produces appinites whose geochemistry is indistinguishable from coeval low-K calc-alkalic arc magmatism. Coeval felsic rocks within appinite complexes and adjacent granitoid batholiths are crustal magmas. When subduction terminates, asthenospheric upwelling (e.g. in a slab window, or in the aftermath of slab failure) induces melting of metasomatized garnet SCLM to produce K-rich sho shonitic magmas enriched in large ionic lithophile and light relative to heavy rare earth elements, whose asthenospheric component can be identified by Sm-Nd isotopic signatures. Coeval late-stage Ba-Sr granitoid magmas have a ‘slab failure’ geochemistry, resemble TTG and adakitic suites, and are formed either by fractionation of an enriched (shoshonitic) mafic magma, or high pressure melting of a meta-basaltic protolith either at the base of the crust or along the upper portion of the subducted slab. Appinite complexes may be the crustal representation of mafic magma that underplated the crust for the duration of arc magmatism. They were preferentially emplaced along fault zones around the periphery of the granitoid batholiths (where their ascent is not blocked by overlying felsic magma), and as enclaves within granitoid batholiths. When subduction ceases, appinite complexes with a more pronounced asthenospheric component are preferentially emplaced along active faults that bound the periphery of the batholiths.     

Post-orogenic shoshonitic magmas of the Yzerfontein pluton,South Africa: the ‘smoking gun’ of mantle melting and crustal growth during Cape granite genesis?

The post-orogenic Yzerfontein pluton, in the Saldania Belt of South Africa was constructed through numerous injections of shoshonitic magmas. Most magma compositions are adequately modelled as products of fractionation, but the monzogranites and syenogranites may have a separate origin. A separate high-Mg mafic series has a less radiogenic mantle source. Fine-grained magmatic enclaves in the intermediate shoshonitic rocks are autoliths. The pluton was emplaced between 533 ± 3 and 537 ± 3 Ma (LA-SF-ICP-MS U–Pb zircon), essentially synchronously with many granitic magmas of the Cape Granite Suite (CGS). Yzerfontein may represent a high-level expression of the mantle heat source that initiated partial melting of the local crust and produced the CGS granitic magmas, late in the Saldanian Orogeny. However, magma mixing is not evident at emplacement level and there are no magmatic kinships with the I-type granitic rocks of the CGS. The mantle wedge is inferred to have been enriched during subduction along the active continental margin. In the late- to post-orogenic phase, the enriched mantle partially melted to produce heterogeneous magma batches, exemplified by those that formed the Yzerfontein pluton, which was further hybridised through minor assimilation of crustal materials. Like Yzerfontein, the small volumes of mafic rocks associated with many batholiths, worldwide, are probably also low-volume, high-level expressions of crustal growth through the emplacement of major amounts of mafic magma into the deep crust.     

The investigation of petrology and geodynamic mafic magmatism in Bijar area, west of Iran (Arabia- Eurasia collision zone)

In northeastern Sanandaj-Sirjan structural zone, the Takab-Ghorveh belt comprises a volcanic province which related to the collision between the Eurasian and Arabian continents. It contains almost Quaternary andesitic basalt to alkali basalt. These alkali basaltes show Strombolian type eruptions. The volcanic rocks in Bijar area represent a range of mafic magmas, re-vealed by mingling and mixing textures. A variety of features suggest that the lava flows before eruption from magma chambers, contaminated by continental crust.     

Geochemical constraints on the origin of mafic and silicic magmas at Cordón El Guadal, Tatara-San Pedro Complex, central Chile

The aim of this study is to quantify the crustal differentiation processes and sources responsible for the origin of basaltic to dacitic volcanic rocks present on Cordón El Guadal in the Tatara-San Pedro Complex (TSPC). This suite is important for understanding the origin of evolved magmas in the southern Andes because it exhibits the widest compositional range of any unconformity-bound sequence of lavas in the TSPC. Major element, trace element, and Sr-isotopic data for the Guadal volcanic rocks provide evidence for complex crustal magmatic histories involving up to six differentiation mechanisms. The petrogenetic processes for andesitic and dacitic lavas containing undercooled inclusions of basaltic andesitic and andesitic magma include: (1) assimilation of garnet-bearing, possibly mafic lower continental crust by primary mantle-derived basaltic magmas; (2) fractionation of olivine + clinopyroxene + Ca-rich plagioclase + Fe-oxides in present non-modal proportions from basaltic magmas at ∼4–8 kbar to produce high-Al basalt and basaltic andesitic magmas; (3) vapor-undersaturated (i.e., P _H2O<P _TOTAL) partial melting of gabbroic crustal rocks at ∼3–7 kbar to produce dacitic magmas; (4) crystallization of plagioclase-rich phenocryst assemblages from dacitic magmas in shallow reservoirs; (5) intrusion of basaltic andesitic magmas into shallow reservoirs containing crystal-rich dacitic magmas and subsequent mixing to produce hybrid basaltic andesitic and andesitic magmas; and (6)␣formation and disaggregation of undercooled basaltic andesitic and andesitic inclusions during eruption from shallow chambers to form commingled, mafic inclusion-bearing andesitic and dacitic lavas flows. Collectively, the geochemical and petrographic features of the Guadal volcanic rocks are interpreted to reflect the development of shallow silicic reservoirs within a region characterized by high crustal temperatures due to focused basaltic activity and high magma supply rates. On the periphery of the silicic system where magma supply rates and crustal temperatures were lower, cooling and crystallization were more important than bulk crustal melting or assimilation. Received: 2 July 1997 / Accepted: 25 November 1997     

Mantle-Crust Interaction in Petrogenesis of the Gabbro-Granite Association in the Preobrazhenka Intrusion,Eastern Kazakhstan

The paper reports results of petrological-geochemical, isotope, and geochronological studies of the Preobrazhenka gabbro–granitoid massif located in the Altai collisional system of Hercynides, Eastern Kazakhstan. The massif shows evidence for the interaction of compositionally contrasting magmas during its emplacement. Mineralogical–petrological and geochemical studies indicate that the gabbroid rocks of the massif were formed through differentiation of primary trachybasaltic magma and its interaction with crustal anatectic melts. Origin of the granitoid rocks is related to melting of crustal protoliths under the thermal effect of mafic melts. The mantle–crust interaction occurred in several stages and at different depths. A model proposed here to explain the intrusion formation suggests subsequent emplacement of basite magmas in lithosphere and their cooling, melting of crustal protolith, emplacement at the upper crustal levels and cooling of the granitoid and basite magmas. It was concluded that the formation of gabbro-granitoid intrusive massifs serves as an indicator of active mantle–crust interaction at the late evolutionary stages of accretionary–collisional belts, when strike-slip pull-apart deformations causes the high permeability of lithosphere.     

The Origin of the Mesozoic Associated Multiseries Granitoid Magma in the Shandong Peninsula

Three melting events of the earth's crust occurred during the period of 220-120 Ma in the Shandong Pe-ninsula. Three subcycles of granitoid magma including six rock series were generated in the faulted granitoidmagma belt. The parent magma of several rock series formed earliest originated from the lower crust ofgranulite facies; following the increase of geothermal temperature the source magma would migrate into themiddle crust of amphibolite facies. In the diapiric granitoid magma belt, the granitoid magma was formed firstin granitic layer of the upper crust, and then in the middle crust. In each subcycle the generation of magmastarted with the generation of more mafic one and finished with low eutectic one; they were formed in the formof layered melting in a particular position of the crust.     

Pervasive granitoid magma transfer through the lower–middle crust during non-coaxial compressional deformation

Granitic magmas migrated through Early Proterozoic middle–lower crust at Mt Hay, central Australia, via a diverse network of narrow structurally controlled channelways, during a period of progressive W–SW-directed thrusting (D1a–D1d). They utilized existing folds, boudins and shear zones, or created new channels by magmatic fracture either parallel to layering or, rarely, in irregular arrays. The magmas rose obliquely, parallel to the plunging (50–60°) regional elongation direction, which was defined by coaxial folds, boudin necks and a strong mineral-elongation lineation. Megacrystic charnockitic magmas migrated through metre-scale conduits during D1a–D1b, but leucosomes were generally restricted to smaller (centimetre-scale) structures that existed throughout the entire deformation history. Thus, D1a/D1b leucosomes were potential feeders of in situ partial melts to the adjacent larger conduits of charnockite magma, thereby providing a pervasive interconnected network that allowed efficient migration of all magma types during the early stages of thrusting. The upper–middle crust of the Anmatjira–Reynolds Range area contains abundant megacrystic granitoid sheets that are of similar age and geochemistry to those at Mt Hay. They are considered to have formed as syntectonic intrusions emplaced during W–SW-directed thrusting, as at Mt Hay, suggesting that granitic magmas formed near the base of the continental crust passed through the mid-lower crustal level (25–30 km) exposed at Mt Hay and accumulated, in batholithic proportions, at shallower crustal levels (12–20 km) such as the Anmatjira–Reynolds Range area. The observations imply that granitoid magmas in the deep crust are capable of pervasive migration through the crust during major compressive, noncoaxial shear deformation. Localization of magmas by sequentially developed, narrow, compressive structures suggests that dilatancy followed successive foliation-forming events, a situation that can occur during steady-state deformation if the effective confining pressures are low, which would be a result of high and possibly variable rates of magma influx. The inferred rapid melt segregation and migration during deformation suggest that large chambers do not form until magma reaches neutral buoyancy in the middle to upper continental crust.     

花岗岩与大地构造

花岗岩(广义)是地球有别于其它星球及地球上大陆地壳有别于大洋地壳的物质标志,是大陆上分布最广的岩石之一。在已有研究基础上,本文系统阐述了花岗岩大地构造的内涵、研究思路、研究内容和发展方向。花岗岩大地构造将花岗岩视为一种构造标志体、地质体,是从花岗岩角度,探索解决大地构造问题,其研究内容可概括为物理特性(构造)、物质组成(岩石地化)和年代学三大方面,具体研究内容包括:(1)巨量花岗岩浆侵位的物理特性变化及其构造意义,包括岩浆上升迁移、汇聚定位及岩体(带)形成/构建过程;(2)花岗岩体变形改造及其构造意义;(3)花岗岩物源与大陆生长及深部结构,以新老物质组成,划分造山带类型;(4)巨型花岗岩带发育过程与大陆聚散,探索超大陆和中小板块聚散的岩浆响应。花岗岩大地构造丰富了大地构造研究内容,也有助深化花岗岩体(带)形成、发育过程和构造背景的认识。它的提出是当今地球科学学科交叉、融合发展的必要。     

Petrogenesis of the Kaikomagatake granitoid pluton in the Izu Collision Zone, central Japan: implications for transformation of juvenile oceanic arc into mature continental crust

The Miocene Kaikomagatake pluton is one of the Neogene granitoid plutons exposed in the Izu Collision Zone, which is where the juvenile Izu-Bonin oceanic arc is colliding against the mature Honshu arc. The pluton intrudes into the Cretaceous to Paleogene Shimanto accretionary complex of the Honshu arc along the Itoigawa-Shizuoka Tectonic Line, which is the collisional boundary between the two arcs. The pluton consists of hornblende–biotite granodiorite and biotite monzogranite, and has SiO₂ contents of 68–75 wt%. It has high-K series compositions, and its incompatible element abundances are comparable to the average upper continental crust. Major and trace element compositions of the pluton show well-defined chemical trends. The trends can be interpreted with a crystal fractionation model involving the removal of plagioclase, biotite, hornblende, quartz, apatite, and zircon from a potential parent magma with a composition of ~68 wt% SiO₂. The Sr isotopic compositions, together with the partial melting modeling results, suggest that the parent magma is derived by ~53% melting of a hybrid lower crustal source comprising ~30% Shimanto metasedimentary rocks of the Honshu arc and ~70% K-enriched basaltic rocks of the Izu-Bonin rear-arc region. Together with previous studies on the Izu Collision Zone granitoid plutons, the results of this study suggest that the chemical diversity within the parental magmas of the granitoid plutons reflects the chemical variation of basaltic sources (i.e., across-arc chemical variation in the Izu-Bonin arc), as well as a variable contribution of the metasedimentary component in the lower crustal source regions. In addition, the petrogenetic models of the Izu Collision Zone granitoid plutons collectively suggest that the contribution of the metasedimentary component is required to produce granitoid magma with compositions comparable to the average upper continental crust. The Izu Collision Zone plutons provide an exceptional example of the transformation of a juvenile oceanic arc into mature continental crust.     

Timing of formation and geological setting of low-sulphidation epithermal gold deposits in the continental margin of NE China

The margin of NE China, a part of the West Pacific metallogenic belt, contains innumerable low-sulphidation mineral deposits. Gold deposits in this region can be classified into three distinct types based on geology and ore mineral paragenesis: (1) low-sulphidation epithermal silver–gold deposits, (2) low-sulphidation tellurium–gold deposits, and (3) low-sulphidation epithermal tellurium–gold deposits. Ores formed during the late Early Cretaceous and the early Late Cretaceous reflect three distinct metallogenic periods: the Fuxin Stage at 115.98 ± 0.89 Ma, the Quantou Stage at 107.2 ± 0.6 Ma or <103 Ma, and the Qingshankou or Yaojiajie Stage at < 97 Ma and 88.2 ± 1.4 Ma. The Fuxin Stage is dominated by trachyandesitic magmatism, with magmas emplaced at hypabyssal depths. In comparison, the Quantou Stage is characterized by high-K calc-alkaline, calc-alkaline, and sodic andesitic, dacitic, and rhyolitic magmatism of three different suites. The first of these is a high-K calc-alkaline andesitic magmatic suite that was accompanied by the emplacement of a calc-alkaline sodic dacite during the formation of the Ciweigou and Wufeng ore deposits. The second suite is dominated by calc-alkaline sodic rhyolite and high-K calc-alkaline sodic dacite magmatism associated with the formation of the Sipingshan ore deposit. The third suite is typified by high-K calc-alkaline andesitic magmatism associated with the emplacement of calc-alkaline hypabyssal granitoid complexes accompanying the formation of the Dong'an and Tuanjiegou ore deposits. The Qingshankou or Yaojia Stage is characterized by calc-alkaline sodic dacite magmatism associated with the formation of the Wuxing ore deposit. Metallogenesis during the Fuxin Stage characterized by trachytic magmatism is closely related to the formation of a deep-seated fault within a magmatic arc or the back-arc region of an immature continental margin and is associated with the Early Cretaceous subduction of the Pacific plate beneath Eurasia. Ore deposits that formed during the Fuxin Stage were generally related to magmato-hydrothermal fluids associated with mantle-derived magmas. In contrast, metallogenesis during the Quantou and Qingshankou or Yaojiajie stages was closely related to the formation of a mature high-K calc-alkaline magmatic arc within a continental margin setting again associated with the westward subduction of the Pacific plate. This metallogenic event was a product of magmato-hydrothermal systems derived from crust–mantle interaction and mixing of magmas derived from partial melting of different sections of the continental crust.     

The difference between oceanic and continental tholeiites: a fluid dynamic explanation

Continental tholeiites have higher SiO₂, K₂O and light rare earth element contents and more evolved isotopic characteristics than their oceanic counterparts. These differences can be explained if the compositions of the parent magmas to both types of tholeiites are similar but if continental magmas assimilate significant amounts of continental crust en route to the surface. Although there is little doubt that most continental tholeiites have assimilated crustal material, the lcoation and mechanism of assimilation remain uncertain. Longhi (1981) has argued that magmas derived directly from the mantle should crystallize little orthopyroxene. The abundance of orthopyroxene in most continental layered intrusions suggests that they have crystallized from magmas which have assimilated continental crust. Since orthopyroxene is an early crystallizing phase in layered intrusions, this assimilation must occur early, before the magma enters the chamber. Assimilation can occur at the margins of the dykes which feed magma chambers, depending on the nature of the flow. If the flow is turbulent the high temperatures at the centre of the dyke will extend to the margins and the magma will erode the dyke walls. If the flow is laminar, a conductive profile develops at the margin and the flowing magma chills against the walls, protecting them from thermal erosion. The nature of flow in a dyke can be predicted from the Reynolds number, the criteria for turbulence. Reynolds number calculations suggest that the flow of primitive magmas in continental dykes will be fully turbulent and, if this is the case, assimilation of low melting point components in the walls of the dyke is inevitable. It is therefore suggested that many of the geochemical characteristics of continental tholeiites result from melting at the walls of dykes as primitive magmas ascend through the crust.     

大陆碰撞成矿作用:I.冈底斯新生代斑岩成矿系统

火山岩浆弧和大陆碰撞带是产出巨型斑岩矿床的两类重要环境.岩浆弧环境的斑岩铜矿成矿理论业已建立,而大陆碰撞环境的斑岩矿床则研究薄弱.在青藏高原,印度-亚洲大陆碰撞导致了大规模斑岩成矿作用,在主碰撞期(65～41 Ma)发育沙让式斑岩Mo矿和亚贵拉式斑岩-矽卡岩型Pb-Zn-Mo矿床,在晚碰撞期(40～26 Ma)形成明则式斑岩Mo矿和努日式斑岩-矽卡岩型Mo-W-Cu矿床,在后碰撞期(25-13Ma)产生驱龙式斑岩Cu-Mo矿床.这些矿床构成了3条规模不等的成矿带,分别发育在冈底斯的北带(中拉萨地体)、南带(泽当弧地体)和中带(南拉萨地体).冈底斯含矿斑岩系统通常为多期多相浅成侵入杂岩体.含矿斑岩以高K为特征,多为高K钙碱性岩和钾玄岩系列.含Cu斑岩以二长花岗斑岩为主,显示埃达克岩地球化学亲和性,含Mo斑岩以花岗斑岩为主,显示大陆壳成因特点.微量元素和Sr Nd Hf同位素地球化学研究表明,含Cu斑岩来自碰撞加厚的西藏镁铁质的新生下地壳(如角闪榴辉岩),早期卷入新生下地壳的幔源物质及硫化物的重熔为斑岩岩浆提供了部分金属Cu、Au和S;含Mo 岩浆来自古老的西藏镁铁质下地壳(如角闪岩)的部分熔融,金属Mo主要来自古老地壳物质的贡献.冈底斯含矿斑岩均含有不同成分的微粒镁铁质包体(MME),并显示典型的长英质与镁铁质岩浆混合特征.以MME为代表的含Cu富H2O幔源岩浆,或底侵于冈底斯地壳底部,为下地壳熔融提供了热和H2O,或注入长英质岩浆房,为斑岩系统提供了部分金属cu和S,并提升了岩浆氧逸度.冈底斯斑岩岩浆热液-成矿系统受控于斑岩就位的地壳环境.在斑岩体侵位的花岗岩基环境,其良好的封闭性导致热液流体(岩浆出溶)以斑岩岩株为核心向外扩散,形成环状蚀变分带,并主要在钾硅酸盐化带发生Cu-Mo矿化;在碎屑岩-碳酸盐建造环境,碳酸盐建造发生矽卡岩化和金属淀积,不透水的细碎屑岩层阻挡热液流体扩散,热液矿化围绕斑岩体发育,形成斑岩型Mo-矽卡岩型Pb-Zn Mo或Mo-W-Cu 成矿系统;在层火山沉积环境,良好的封闭盖层导致岩浆流体与天水强烈混合以及混合流体的长距离侧向流动,发育大面积蚀变岩盖,形成上部浅成低温热液Au Cu和下部斑岩型Cu-Mo成矿系统.结合区域构造岩浆分析,笔者认为,发育于冈底斯碰撞带3个不同碰撞期的幔源岩浆上侵-下地壳部分熔融岩浆浅成侵位-斑岩成矿系统,受控于印度-亚洲大陆三阶段碰撞的不同深部过程,据此提出了大陆碰撞过程中斑岩型矿床的地球动力学模型.     

A petrological and geochemical study on time-series samples from Klyuchevskoy volcano,Kamchatka arc

To understand the generation and evolution of mafic magmas from Klyuchevskoy volcano in the Kamchatka arc, which is one of the most active arc volcanoes on Earth, a petrological and geochemical study was carried out on time-series samples from the volcano. The eruptive products show significant variations in their whole-rock compositions (52.0–55.5 wt.% SiO₂), and they have been divided into high-Mg basalts and high-Al andesites. In the high-Mg basalts, lower-K and higher-K primitive samples (>9 wt.% MgO) are present, and their petrological features indicate that they may represent primary or near-primary magmas. Slab-derived fluids that induced generation of the lower-K basaltic magmas were less enriched in melt component than those associated with the higher-K basaltic magmas, and the fluids are likely to have been released from the subducting slab at shallower levels for the lower-K basaltic magmas than for higher-K basaltic magmas. Analyses using multicomponent thermodynamics indicates that the lower-K primary magma was generated by ~13% melting of a source mantle with ~0.7 wt.% H₂O at 1245–1260?°C and ~1.9 GPa. During most of the evolution of the volcano, the lower-K basaltic magmas were dominant; the higher-K primitive magma first appeared in AD 1932. In AD 1937–1938, both the lower-K and higher-K primitive magmas erupted, which implies that the two types of primary magmas were present simultaneously and independently beneath the volcano. The higher-K basaltic magmas evolved progressively into high-Al andesite magmas in a magma chamber in the middle crust from AD 1932 to ~AD 1960. Since then, relatively primitive magma has been injected continuously into the magma chamber, which has resulted in the systematic increase of the MgO contents of erupted materials with ages from ~AD 1960 to present.     

<Superscript>10</Superscript>Be, <Superscript>18</Superscript>O and radiogenic isotopic constraints on the origin of adakitic signatures: a case study from Solander and Little Solander Islands,New Zealand

Subduction-related Quaternary volcanic rocks from Solander and Little Solander Islands, south of mainland New Zealand, are porphyritic trachyandesites and andesites (58.20–62.19 wt% SiO₂) with phenocrysts of amphibole, plagioclase and biotite. The Solander and Little Solander rocks are incompatible element enriched (e.g. Sr ~931–2,270 ppm, Ba ~619–798 ppm, Th ~8.7–21.4 ppm and La ~24.3–97.2 ppm) with MORB-like Sr and Nd isotopic signatures. Isotopically similar quench-textured enclaves reflect mixing with intermediate (basaltic-andesite) magmas. The Solander rocks have geochemical affinities with adakites (e.g. high Sr/Y and low Y), whose origin is often attributed to partial melting of subducted oceanic crust. Solander sits on isotopically distinct continental crust, thus excluding partial melting of the lower crust in the genesis of the magmas. Furthermore, the incompatible element enrichments of the Solander rocks are inconsistent with partial melting of newly underplated mafic lower crust; reproduction of their major element compositions would require unrealistically high degrees of partial melting. A similar argument precludes partial melting of the subducting oceanic crust and the inability to match the observed trace element patterns in the presence of residual garnet or plagioclase. Alternatively, an enriched end member of depleted MORB mantle source is inferred from Sr, Nd and Pb isotopic compositions, trace element enrichments and εHf ? 0 CHUR in detrital zircons, sourced from the volcanics. ¹⁰Be and Sr, Nd and Pb isotopic systematics are inconsistent with significant sediment involvement in the source region. The trace element enrichments and MORB-like Sr and Nd isotopic characteristics of the Solander rocks require a strong fractionation mechanism to impart the high incompatible element concentrations and subduction-related (e.g. high LILE/HFSE) geochemical signatures of the Solander magmas. Trace element modelling shows that this can be achieved by very low degrees of melting of a peridotitic source enriched by the addition of a slab-derived melt. Subsequent open-system fractionation, involving a key role for mafic magma recharge, resulted in the evolved andesitic adakites.     

Five hundred million years of punctuated addition of juvenile crust during extension in the Goochland Terrane,central Appalachian Piedmont Province

ABSTRACT

The Goochland Terrane is an enigmatic crustal block in the Appalachian Piedmont Province of central Virginia, USA. Sparse exposures of terminal Mesoproterozoic and late Neoproterozoic igneous rocks in the central Goochland Terrane offer the opportunity to investigate both the continental affinity of the terrane during the Proterozoic Eon and the timing and mechanisms of crustal growth. We apply multiple geochemical tools to these rocks: tectonic discrimination using whole-rock major and trace element abundances; whole-rock Sm-Nd isotopes; O, U-Pb, and Lu-Hf isotope analyses of spots in zircon; and measurement of O isotopes in multi-grain quartz separates. Eruption of the Sabot Amphibolite protolith is difficult to date, but we tentatively assign an age of 552 ± 11 Ma. Goochland Terrane continental crust first separated from the mantle prior to ca. 1050–1010 Ma intrusion of the Montpelier Anorthosite and the State Farm Gneiss protolith. The granitic magma that became the State Farm Gneiss protolith could have been derived entirely from partial melting of this initial Goochland Terrane crust. In contrast, the magmas that became the Montpelier Anorthosite, Neoproterozoic granitoid, and the Sabot Amphibolite were mixtures of mantle melt and preexisting Goochland Terrane crust. This production of juvenile continental crust occurred during continental extension and, eventually, rifting. The timing and compositions of terminal Mesoproterozoic magmatism in the Goochland Terrane closely match those in the nearby Blue Ridge Province. Although the compositions of the Neoproterozoic magmas in the two regions are similar, intrusion and possibly eruption occurred about 10 M.y. later in the Goochland Terrane.     

Continental crust of Gorny Altai: stages of formation and evolution; indicative role of granitoids

The composition and mechanisms of formation of continental crust in Gorny Altai and the role of granitoid magmatism in its evolution are considered. Geochemical and isotope data for major types of rocks of primary crust and for Early–Middle Paleozoic granitoids of the region are presented. The role of granitoids as indicators of the different stages of the continental-crust evolution is discussed. A review of the main models of continental crust formation is maid, and their applicability to the Gorny Altai segment of the Central Asian Fold Belt is shown. Based on the complex of geological, geochemical, isotope, and geochronological data, it has been established that the formation of continental crust in the Early and Late Caledonian terranes of Gorny Altai proceeded nearly synchronously (in the Middle–Late Devonian).In the Early Caledonian terranes, this process was the consequence of the multistage fractionation of primary juvenile crust of basic composition, and in the Late Caledonian ones it was the result of one-cycle intracrustal melting of hybrid andesitic crust rich in recycled material.     

Petrology and geochemistry of the ignimbrites and associated lava domes from N.W. Sardinia

Cenozoic calc-alkaline ignimbrites and related lavas from N.W. Sardinia (Italy), which are closely associated with andesites, have dacitic to rhyolitic composition. The ignimbritic rocks underwent fractional crystallization dominated by plagioclase. The model calculations for REE, Ba, Sr, and Rb are consistent with the generation of ignimbritic magmas by partial melting of tonalitic rocks. P-T estimates for the crystallization of ignimbrites, which give temperatures in the range of 910 °–1070 ° C and P about 5 kb, imply a local increase of temperature in the crust, which is probably related to the ascending andesitic magma. The variations of trace elements indicate that associated andesitic rocks were contaminated by ignimbritic magma.     

Magmatic processes that generate chemically distinct silicic magmas in NW Costa Rica and the evolution of juvenile continental crust in oceanic arcs

Northwestern Costa Rica is built upon an oceanic plateau that has developed chemical and geophysical characteristics of the upper continental crust. A major factor in converting the oceanic plateau to continental crust is the production, evolution, and emplacement of silicic magmas. In Costa Rica, the Caribbean Large Igneous Province (CLIP) forms the overriding plate in the subduction of the Cocos Plate—a process that has occurred for at least the last 25 my. Igneous rocks in Costa Rica older than about 8 Ma have chemical compositions typical of ocean island basalts and intra-oceanic arcs. In contrast, younger igneous deposits contain abundant silicic rocks, which are significantly enriched in SiO₂, alkalis, and light rare-earth elements and are geochemically similar to the average upper continental crust. Geophysical evidence (high Vp seismic velocities) also indicates a relatively thick (~40 km), addition of evolved igneous rocks to the CLIP. The silicic deposits of NW Costa Rica occur in two major compositional groups: a high-Ti and a low-Ti group with no overlap between the two. The major and trace element characteristics of these groups are consistent with these magmas being derived from liquids that were extracted from crystal mushes—either produced by crystallization or by partial melting of plutons near their solidi. In relative terms, the high-Ti silicic liquids were extracted from a hot, dry crystal mush with low oxygen fugacity, where plagioclase and pyroxene were the dominant phases crystallizing, along with lesser amounts of hornblende. In contrast, the low-Ti silicic liquids were extracted from a cool, wet crystal mush with high oxygen fugacity, where plagioclase and amphibole were the dominant phases crystallizing. The hot-dry-reducing magmas dominate the older sequence, but the youngest sequence contains only magmas from the cold-wet-oxidized group. Silicic volcanic deposits from other oceanic arcs (e.g., Izu-Bonin, Marianas) have chemical characteristics distinctly different from continental crust, whereas the NW Costa Rican silicic deposits have chemical characteristics nearly identical to the upper continental crust. The transition in NW Costa Rica from mafic oceanic arc and intra-oceanic magma to felsic, upper continental crust-type magma is governed by a combination of several important factors that may be absent in other arc settings: (1) thermal maturation of the thick Caribbean plateau, (2) regional or local crustal extension, and (3) establishment of an upper crustal reservoir.     

Origin of some magmas in oceanic and circum-oceanic regions

Partial melting experiments on spinel-lherzolite, a rock which probably occurs in relatively shallow parts of the oceanic upper mantle, demonstrate that alkali basaltic melt is formed at depths of at least 20 kbar whereas tholeiitic melt is formed at lower pressures (< 15 kbar) under anhydrous conditions. The specimen studied was a relatively iron-rich natural spinel-lherzolite (Fe/Mg+Fe=0.15) and the melts produced have ratios comparable to those obtained in basalts. Slight increase of degree of partial melting produces picritic melt over a wide pressure range. Under hydrous (water-excess) conditions, andesitic melt is produced by partial melting of the same natural spinel-lherzolite and a synthetic lherzolite. The melting experiments on two different abyssal tholeiites from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge suggest that the derivation of olivine tholeiite from a more mafic magma or a mantle peridotite (lherzolite) is possible, but is limited to depths shallower than 25 km under essentially anhydrous conditions, whereas plagioclase tholeiite may have been formed by fractional crystallization at depths of about 20 km in the presence of a small amount (～ 2 wt.%) of water.It is suggested that under mid-ocean ridges, partial melting of spinel-lherzolite at depths shallower than 60 km would produce olivine-tholeiitic magma, which differentiates at shallower levels (20–25 km) under either essentially anhydrous or hydrous (but vapor-absent) conditions to produce abyssal tholeiites of olivine-tholeiite type or plagioclase-tholeiite type. It may be also possible that the former olivine-tholeiite is generated by direct partial melting of plagioclase-lherzolite. Alkali basalts in the oceanic region may be generated at depths greater than 50 km by relatively small degree of partial melting. Along island arcs and continental margins, where the subduction zones probably exist, partial melting of lherzolite would take place in the presence of water that may be supplied by breakdown of hydrous minerals in the subducted oceanic crust, thereby producing andesitic magmas. High-alumina basalt magma could be produced by partial melting of the dehydrated oceanic crust in the subduction zone at depths between 40 and 60 km, where garnet is unstable above the solidus.