Oligocene–Miocene geodynamic evolution of the central part of Urumieh-Dokhtar Arc of Iran

Basic volcanic rocks from Tafresh, west Kashan, and west Nain volcanic successions in the central part of Urumieh-Dokhtar Magmatic Assemblage (UDMA) of Iran yield K–Ar ages ranging from 26.8 to 18.2 Ma. These ages indicate significant Late Oligocene–Early Miocene basic volcanism in the UDMA. These ages, combined with K–Ar ages of 26.0 and 14.1 Ma, respectively, for associated low-silica and high-silica adakites, help constrain reconstructions of the UDMA geodynamic evolution. Late Oligocene–Early Miocene slab roll-back associated with an asthenospheric mantle influx are suggested as the major processes responsible for concurrent volcanism showing Nb–Ta-depleted, Nb–Ta-enriched and low-silica adakite signatures. Slab roll-back, the likely consequence of a decrease in subduction velocity, led to partial melting of the subducted slab and produced Early–Middle Miocene high-silica (dacitic) adakites. Oligocene to Miocene volcanic rocks do not conform to the Oligocene continental collisional model for the UDMA, rather they suggest a decrease in the subduction rate that prompted the asthenospheric mantle influx.     

Subduction and Collision of the Jinsha River Paleo-Tethys: Constraints from Zircon U-Pb Dating and Geochemistry of the Ludian Batholith in the Jiangda–Deqen–Weixi Continental Margin Arc

The Jiangda–Deqen–Weixi continental margin arc(DWCA) developed along the base of the Changdu–Simao Block and was formed as a result of the subduction of the Jinsha River Ocean Slab and the subsequent collision. The Ludian batholith is located in the southern part of the DWCA and is the largest batholith in northwest Yunnan. Granite samples from the Ludian batholith yield an early Middle Permian age of 271.0 ± 2.8 Ma. The geochemical data of the early Middle Permian granitoids show high Si2 O, low P2 O5 and MgO contents that belong to calc-alkaline series and peraluminous I-type rocks. Their εHf(t) values range from-5.01 to +0.58, indicating that they were formed by hybrid magmas related to the subduction of the Jinsha River Tethys Ocean. The monzonite and monzogranite samples yield Late Permian ages of 250.6 ± 1.8 Ma and 252.1 ± 1.3 Ma, respectively. The Late Permian granitoids are high-K calc alkaline and shoshonite series metaluminous I-type rocks. Their εHf(t) values range from-4.12 to-1.68 and from-7.88 to-6.64, respectively. The mixing of crustal and mantle melts formed the parental magma of the Late Permian granitoids. This study, combined with previous work, demonstrates the process from subduction to collision of the Jinsha River Paleo-Tethys Ocean.     

Early Jurassic Suprasubduction Granitoids of the Uda Complex at the Southwestern End of the Uda–Murgal Magmatic Arc: New Data on the Age and Sources

Doklady Earth Sciences - Granitoids of the Uda complex are developed within the southeastern marginal part of the Siberian craton and its folded framework. Geochemical, isotope–geochemical...     

Structural style and tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the Neogene–Quaternary Siderno Basin,southern Calabrian Arc,Italy

The Neogene–Quaternary Siderno Basin is located in the southern Calabrian Arc, along an E–W transect including the Ionian side and part of the Tyrrhenian margin. The orogenic belt was generated by ongoing northward subduction of Ionian oceanic lithosphere beginning in the Early Cretaceous. Since the Oligocene, the area has experienced complex tectonics, including NW–SE-oriented pull-apart basins. The forearc region contains >2000 m of Oligocene-to-Quaternary strata that cover pre-Tertiary rocks. The succession forms an E-dipping monocline, with tectonic growth structures increasing upward. Erosional truncations and thickness variations suggest a different evolution for the Siderno Basin, which in comparison with northern and southern parts of the Ionian accretionary wedge, evolved differently during the Serravallian–Tortonian stages. NW–SE and NE–SW fault systems are dominant, the first exhibiting strike–slip and normal kinematics in the Nicotera–Gioiosa and Molochio–Antonimina fault zones. These structures were active during infilling of the Neogene basin, and represent a complex transfer zone.

The NE–SW system shows two types of tectonic kinematics: (1) a compressive stage, with NW–SE-orientated shortening, responsible for inversion tectonics documented by east-verging folds, thrusts, and back-thrusts, and (2) emplacement of the variegated clay during the Langhian, which is related to back-thrust propagation. The strike–slip accommodated stress generated in the accretionary prism in response to subduction of Ionian lithosphere and progradation of the accretionary front of the Calabrian forearc.     

Oligocene-to-Early Miocene depositional and structural evolution of the Calabria–Peloritani Arc southern terrane (Italy) and geodynamic correlations with the Spain Betics and Morocco Rif

The Calabria–Peloritani Arc southern terrane is a stack of crystalline basement nappes, some of them provided with a widely outcropping Alpine sedimentary cover, sealed by clastics of the Stilo–Capo d’Orlando Formation (SCOF). New field observations in the Stilo area lead to define a Pignolo Formation as a sedimentary cycle predating the emplacement of the uppermost nappe (Stilo Unit) of the tectonic pile. It includes the well-known Lithothamnium and larger foraminifers bearing calcarenites, previously interpreted as a basal member of the SCOF. The biostratigraphic revision of both formations, together with recently published data about other preorogenic deposits, point to a stacking of the whole terrane between the Aquitanian and the middle–late Burdigalian. A comparison between the sedimentary cycles characterising the Calabria–Peloritani southern terrane during the Oligocene–Early Miocene and those almost coeval of the Betic–Rifian internal units highlights their quite similar evolution. Thus it is reliable that both the orogenic belts originated from contiguous paleogeographic realms. These considerations confirm that the present western Mediterranean Chains were originally segments of a continuous orogenic belt disrupted by the opening of the Balearic and Tyrrhenian basins.     

Zircon U–Pb Geochronology and Petrogenesis of Early–Midlle Permian Arc–Related Volcanic Rocks in Central Jilin: Implications for the Tectonic Evolution of the Eastern Segment of Central Asian Orogenic Belt

This paper presents age and geochemical data of a recently identified Late Paleozoic volcanic sequence in central Jilin Province, with aims to discuss the petrogenesis and to constrain the tectonic evolution of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt in this area. Firstly, the volcanic rocks have zircon U-Pb ages of 290–270 Ma. Secondly, they are characterized by(a) ranging in composition from the low-K tholeiite series to high-K calc-alkaline series;(b) enrichment in light rare earth elements and depletion of heavy rare earth elements, with negative Eu anomalies; and(c) negative Nb, Ta, and Ti anomalies. Finally, the volcanic rocks yield εHf(t) values of +7.1 to +17. These data suggest that the central Jilin volcanic rocks were possibly derived from predominant partial melting of a depleted lithospheric mantle that might have been modified by subducted slab–derived fluids. Combined with previous studies, the Late Paleozoic–Early Mesozoic magmatism in Central Jilin can be divided into two stages:(a) a volcanic arc stage(290–270 Ma) represented by low-K to high–K, tholeiite to calc–alkaline plutons and(b) a syn–collisional stage(260–240 Ma) represented by high-K calc–alkaline I-type granites. Furthermore, the timing and the tectonic setting of the above magmatic rocks show that the arc was probably produced by the northward subduction of the Paleo-Asian Ocean and that the final closure of the Paleo-Asian Ocean occurred prior to the Early Triassic.     

Experimental Phase Relations of Water- and Sulfur-Saturated Arc Magmas and the 1982 Eruptions of El Chich?n Volcano

The equilibrium phase relations of two volcanic rocks from thesubduction-related Mexican Volcanic Belt have been determinedwith an argon-pressurized internally heated vessel. One rockis the trachyandesite erupted from El Chich?n Volcano in 1982;the other is a primitive basalt erupted from Jorullo Volcanoin 1759. A simplified synthetic equivalent to the trachyandesitewas also investigated in lesser detail. All charges were saturatedwith hydrous vapor and a sulfur-bearing mineral. Temperatureranged from 800 to 1000?C, pressure from 1 to 4 kb, and f_o2was controlled by four different solid oxygen buffers in a doublegold capsule configuration: fayalite-magnetite-quartz (FMQ),Ni-NiO (NNO), manganosite-hausmanite (MNH), and magnetite-hematite(MTH). Pyrrhotite was the only sulfur-bearing mineral observed in chargesbuffered under FMQ and NNO, whereas anhydrite crystallized underthe more oxidizing MNH or MTH; both of these observations areconsistent with those of earlier workers. With increasing temperatureand pressure, SiO₂ and K₂O decreased in the experimental melts,whereas Al₂O₃ and CaO increased. Sulfur solubility in silicatemelts was low (<0?1 wt% equivalent SO^t₃) for pyrrhotite-saturatedcharges, but significantly greater (to 1?3 wt.% SO^t₃) when anhydritewas present. Sulfur solubility in anhydrite-saturated meltsshowed strong positive dependence on both temperature and P_vapor. Sulfur amounted to some 2?5 wt.% (SO^t₃) of the total ejectaduring the 1982 El Chich?n eruptions, and the original magmaticsulfur content was in the range 1?25–2–5 wt% SO^t₃.Extrapolations of experimental temperature and pressure dependencesfor sulfur solubility indicate that such concentrations couldbe contained in a hydrous, oxidized, basaltic parent melt generatedunder Benioff zone conditions. During ascent through the uppermantle and crust, the sulfur solubility limit of the melt wouldcontinuously decrease; in response, most of the sulfur wouldbe transferred from the melt to anhydrite crystals and a separategas phase. Trachyandesite pumices erupted from El Chich?n in1982 contained both pyrrhotite and anhydrite at a temperatureof 800?C. The composition of the natural pyrrhotite yieldedan f_o2 estimate 1 log unit above the NNO buffer. Based on compositionalvariations in the experimental melts with temperature and pressure,the composition of the matrix glass in the 1982 pumices indicatesequilibration of the magmatic liquid at about P_total=P_vapor=2kb just before eruption. At that time, sulfur in El Chich?ntrachyandesite was about equally partitioned between anhydritemicrophenocrysts and some 20 vol.% gas phase in which H₂S wasprobably the dominant sulfur-bearing species. The melt thencontained only 0?05 wt.% SO^t₃, consistent with experimentalsolubility limits at 800?C and P_vapor=2 kb.     

The Post-ore Changes and Preservation of the Porphyry Copper Deposit in the Geza Arc, Yunnan

Please refer to the attachment(s) for more details     

Geochemistry and Petrogenesis of Volcanic Rocks in the Yeba Formation on the Gangdise Magmatic Arc, Tibet

The Early Jurassic bimodal volcanic rocks in the Yeba Formation, situated between Lhasa, Dagzê and Maizhokunggar, composed of metabasalt, basaltic ignimbrite, dacite, silicic tuff and volcanic breccia, are an important volcanic suite for the study of the tectonic evolution of the Gangdise magmatic arc and the Mesozoic Tethys. Based on systematic field investigations, we carried out geochemical studies on representative rock samples. Major and trace element compositions were analyzed for these rock samples by XRF and ICP-MS respectively, and an isotope analysis of Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd was carried out by a MAT 262 mass spectrograph. The results show that the SiO2 contents in lava rocks are 41 %-50.4 % and 64 %-69 %, belonging to calc-alkaline basalt and dacite. One notable feature of the basalt is its low TiO2 content, 0.66 %-1.01 %, much lower than those of continental tholeiite. The ΣREE contents of basalt and dacite are 60.3-135 μg/g and 126.4-167.9 μg/g respectively. Both rocks have similar REE and other trace element characteristics, with enriched LREE and LILE relative to HREE and HFS, similar REE patterns without Eu anomaly. The basalts have depleted Ti, Ta and Nb and slightly negative Nb and Ta anomalies, with Nb*＝0.54-1.17 averaging 0.84. The dacites have depleted P and Ti and also slightly negative Nb and Ta anomalies, with Nb*＝0.74-1.06 averaging 0.86. Major and trace elemental and isotopic studies suggest that both basalt and dacite originated from the partial melting of the mantle wedge at different degrees above the subduction zone. The spinal lherzolite in the upper mantle is likely to be their source rocks, which might have been affected by the selective metasomatism of fluids with crustal geochemistry. The LILE contents of both rocks were affected by metamorphism at later stages. The Yeba bimodal volcanic rocks formed in a temporal extensional situation in a mature island arc resulting from the Indosinian Gangdise magmatic arc.     

Provenance of Permian–Triassic Gondwana Sequence units accreted to the Banda Arc in the Timor region: Constraints from zircon U–Pb and Hf isotopes

Analysis of zircons from Australian affinity Permian–Triassic units of the Timor region yield age distributions with large age peaks at 230–400 Ma and 1750–1900 Ma, which are similar to zircon age spectra found in rocks from NE Australia and crustal fragments now found in Tibet and SE Asia. It is likely that these terranes, which are now widely separated, were once part of the northern edge of Gondwana near what is now the northern margin of Australia. The Cimmerian Block rifted from Gondwana in the Early Permian during the initial formation of the Neo-Tethys Ocean. The zircon age spectra of the Gondwana Sequence of NE Australia and in the Timor region are most similar to the terranes of northern Tibet and Malaysia, further substantiating a similar tectonic affinity. A large 1750–1900 Ma zircon peak is also very common in other terranes in SE Asia.Hf analysis of zircon from the Aileu Complex in Timor and Kisar Islands shows a bimodal distribution (both radiogenically enriched and depleted) in the Gondwana Sequence at ~ 300 Ma. The magmatic event from which these zircons were derived was likely bimodal (i.e. mafic and felsic). This is substantiated by the presence of Permian mafic and felsic rocks interlayered with the sandstone used in this study. Similar rock types and isotopic signatures are also found in Permian–Triassic igneous units throughout the Cimmerian continental block.The Permian–Triassic rocks of the Timor region fill syn-rift intra-cratonic basins that successfully rifted in the Jurassic to form the NW margin of Australia. This passive continental margin first entered the Sunda Trench in the Timor region at around 7–8 Ma causing the Permo-Triassic rocks to accrete to the edge of the Asian Plate and emerge as a series of mountainous islands in the young Banda collision zone. Eventually, the Australian continental margin will collide with the southern edge of the Asian plate and these Gondwanan terranes will rejoin.     

Chevkinite-(Се) and Perrierite-(Се) from the Island Arc Quartz Gabbronorite–Dolerite of the Ayu-Dag Intrusion,Crimean Mountains

Geology of Ore Deposits - Chevkinite-(Се) and perrierite-(Се), which are characteristic minerals of alkaline igneous rocks and high-temperature alkaline alterations, are...     

Minerals of the Fe–Ni–Co–Cu–S System in Picrite Intrusions of the Southern Urals: Signatures of Liquation and Differentiation of the Sulfide Melt

Doklady Earth Sciences - New data on the minerals of the Fe–Ni–Co–Cu–S system in the differentiated intrusions of the Southern Urals are presented. Based on a detailed study...     

Secondary alterations of globular and platy phyllosilicates of the glauconite–illite series in the Precambrian and Vendian–Cambrian rocks

Previously published and new data on secondary transformations of the globular and platy phyllosilicates of the glauconite–illite series from the Upper Proterozoic terrigenous rocks of the Olenek and Anabar uplifts (East Siberia), Srednii Peninsula (Murmansk coast), and Vendian–Cambrian boundary rocks of the Podolian Dniester area (Ukraine) are generalized for the first time. Plastic deformation, aluminization, chloritization, berthierinization, as well as replacement of phyllosilicates of different morphology by corrensite- chlorite and pyrite at different lithogenesis stages, are considered and lithological-mineralogical characteristics of the glauconite-bearing rocks are reported. The structural, crystal-chemical, genetic, and isotopegeochronological features of di- and trioctahedral phyllosilicates are discussed.     

The tectonics and stages of the geological history of the Yenisei–Khatanga Basin and the conjugate Taimyr Orogen

A new interpretation of the seismic profile series for the Taimyr Orogen and the Yenisei–Khatanga Basin is given in terms of their tectonics and geological history. The tectonics and tectonostratigraphy of the Yenisei–Khatanga and the Khatanga–Lena basins are considered. In the Late Vendian and Early Paleozoic, a passive continental margin and postrift shelf basin existed in Taimyr and the Yenisei–Khatanga Basin. From the Early Carboniferous to the Mid-Permian, the North and Central Taimyr zones were involved in orogeny. The Late Paleozoic foredeep was formed in the contemporary South Taimyr Zone. In the Middle to Late Triassic, a new orogeny took place in the large territory of Taimyr and the Noril’sk district of the Siberian Platform. A synorogenic foredeep has been recognized for the first time close to the Yenisei–Khatanga Basin. In the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, this basin was subsided under transpressional conditions. Thereby, anticlinal swells were formed from the Callovian to the Aptian. Their growth continued in the Cenozoic. The Taimyr Orogen underwent tectonic reactivation and apparently right-lateral transpression from Carboniferous to Cenozoic.     

Investigating the kinematics of local thrust sheet rotation in the limb of an orocline: a paleomagnetic and structural analysis of the Esla tectonic unit, Cantabrian–Asturian Arc, NW Iberia

The Esla tectonic unit lies along the southern boundary of the Cantabrian–Asturian Arc, a highly curved foreland fold-thrust belt that was deformed during the final amalgamation of the Pangea supercontinent. Previous structural and paleomagnetic analyses of the Cantabrian–Asturian Arc suggest a two-stage tectonic history in which an originally linear belt was bent into its present configuration, creating an orocline. The Esla tectonic unit is a particularly complex region due to the interaction of rotating thrust sheets from the southern limb of the arc and the southward-directed thrusts of the Picos de Europa tectonic domain during late-stage north–south shortening and oroclinal bending. These structural interactions resulted in intense modification of early-phase thin-skinned tectonic structures that were previously affected by a deeper out-of-sequence antiformal stack that passively deformed the early thrust stack. A total of 75 paleomagnetic sites were collected from the Portilla and Santa Lucia formations, two carbonate passive-margin reef platform units from the middle Devonian. Similar to other regions of the Cantabrian–Asturian Arc, Esla Unit samples carry a secondary remanent magnetization that was acquired after initial thrusting and folding of Variscan deformation in the late Carboniferous. Protracted deformation during late-stage oroclinal bending caused reactivation of existing thrust sheets that include the Esla and younger Corniero and Valbuena thrusts. When combined with existing structural data and interpretations, these data indicate that the present-day sinuosity of the Esla Unit is the consequence of both secondary rotation of originally linear features in the western Esla exposures (e.g., frontal thrusts), and secondary modification and tightening of originally curvilinear features in the eastern Esla exposures (e.g., hanging-wall lateral/oblique ramps). Differences in structural style between the Esla and other tectonic units of the arc highlight the complex kinematics of oroclinal bending, which at the orogen-scale buckled an originally linear, north–south (in present-day coordinates) trending Cantabrian–Asturian thrust belt during the final stages of Pangea amalgamation.     

Indosinian Tectonic Setting of the Southern Yidun Arc： Constraints from SHRIMP Zircon Chronology and Geochemistry of Dioritic Porphyries and Granites

A mass of granitoid and dioritic intrusions are distributed in the southern Yidun Arc, among which the representative Indosinian intrusions include the Dongco and Maxionggou granitoid intrusions in Daocheng County and hypabyssal intrusions intruding into arc volcanic rocks near the Xiangcheng town. The Dongco and Maxionggou granitoid intrusions consist mainly of porphyraceous monzogranites, megacryst monzogranites and aplite granites. The Xiangcheng hypabyssal intrusions are composed dominantly of dioritic porphyries. SHRIMP zircon ages of 224±3 Ma and 222±3 Ma have been obtained for the Dongco granitoid intrusion and the Xiangcheng dioritic porphyries, respectively. The Xiongcheng dioritic porphyries show a cak-alkaline geochemical feature, and are characterized by higher Sr/Y ratios, depletive Nb, Ta, P and Ti, enriched LILEs, and lower εNd (t) (= -3.27), suggesting that they might be derived from mantle source magmas that were obviously contaminated by continent crustal materials. However, the Dongco and Maxionggou granitoids belong to high-potassium calc alkaline series with a per-metaluminous feature, and are characterized by higher CaO/(∑FeO+MgO) and Al2O3/(∑FeO+ MgO) ratios, lower (La/Yb)n and Sr/Y ratios, depletive Nb, Ta, Sr, P and Ti, enriched LILEs, and very low εNd (t) (= -8.10), indicating that the granitoids might be derived from partial melting of continental crust materials mainly of graywacke. Petrogenesis of Dongco and Maxionggou granitoids implies that there was an oceanic crust between the Zongza continental block (ZCB) and western margin of the Yangtze Craton (WMYZC). And the oceanic crust slab subducted westward during the Indosinian Epoch, producing an Andes-type continent marginal arc and a back arc basin at the WMSCC. Then the oceanic basin closed and a sinistrally lateral collision occurred at ca. 224 Ma-222 Ma between the ZCB and the WMYZC, causing partial melting of sediments in the back-arc basin to generate granitoid magmas of the Dongco and Maxionggou intrusions.     

Age and Sources of Metasedimentary Rocks of the Tokur Terrane of the Mongol–Okhotsk Fold Belt: Results of U–Pb and Lu–Hf Isotope Studies

Doklady Earth Sciences - This paper presents the results of U–Pb (LA-ICP-MS) and Lu–Hf isotope studies of detrital zircons from the presumably Permian meta sedimentary rocks of the...     

Nature of the Skarn–Borosilicate Deposit Giants of the Sikhote-Alin and Pamir Mountains

Doklady Earth Sciences - It is shown that the giant Sikhote-Alin and Pamir deposits of boron are associated with fragments of the boron-bearing evaporite strata of paleoceanic atolls in the...     

Geochemistry and Zircon U-Pb Dates of Felsic-Intermediate Members of the Late Cretaceous Yüksekova Arc Basin: Constraints on the Evolution of the Bitlis–Zagros Branch of Neotethys (Elazığ, E Turkey)

During the Late Cretaceous in the Eastern Mediterranean, the northern branch of the southern Neotethys was closed by multiple northward subductions. Of these, the most northerly located subduction created the Baskil continental arc at around 82–84 Ma. The more southerly and intra-oceanic subduction, on the other hand, produced an arc-basin system,the Yüksekova Complex, as early as the late Cenomanian–early Turonian. The abundant and relatively well-studied basaltic rocks of this complex were intruded by dykes, sills and small stocks of felsic–intermediate rocks, not previously studied in detail. The intrusives collected from five different localities in the Elaz?? region of eastern Turkey are all subalkaline, with low Nb/Y values. Most of them have been chemically classified as rhyodacites/dacites, whereas a small number appear to be andesites. In normal mid-ocean-ridge basalt(N-MORB)-normalised plots, the intrusives are characterised by relative enrichments in Th and La over Nb, Zr, Hf, Ti and high field strength elements(HREEs), indicating their derivation from a subduction-modified source. While their relatively high, positive εN d(i) values(+6.4 and +7.2) might suggest a depleted mantle source for their ultimate origin, somewhat radiogenic Pb values indicate a sedimentary contribution to the source of the rocks. The overall geochemical characteristics indicate their generation in an oceanic arc setting. The zircon U-Pb Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry(LA-ICP-MS) data obtained from five felsic-intermediate rock samples yielded intrusion dates of 80–88 Ma. This suggests that the Elaz?? oceanic arc-related intrusives are slightly younger than those of the Yüksekova arc-basin system, but coeval with the Baskil continental arc. However, the felsic–intermediate intrusives show different geochemical characteristics(oceanic arc-type, with a lack of crustal contamination)to those of the Baskil continental arc. This indicates that these two igneous systems are unrelated and likely developed in different tectonic settings. This, in turn, supports a geodynamic model in which the northern strand of the southern Neotethys was consumed by multiple northward subductions.