Geological structure of the submarine Vityaz Ridge within the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Seismic Gap</Emphasis> area (Pacific slope of the Kurile island arc)

Results of geological research conducted by the Pacific Oceanological Institute of the Far East Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the submarine Vityaz Ridge during Cruise 37 of R/V Akademik M.A. Lavrentyev in 2005 are discussed. Various rocks constituting the basement and sedimentary cover of the ridge were dredged in three areas of the ridge. Based on isotope geochronology, petrogeochemical, petrographic, and paleontological data and comparison with similar rocks available from the adjacent land and Sea of Okhotsk, they are subdivided into several age complexes. Late Cretaceous, Eocene, Late Oligocene, Miocene, and Pliocene-Pleistocene complexes are defined among the igneous rocks, while volcanogenic-sedimentary rocks are united into Late Cretaceous-Early Paleocene (late Campanian-Danian), undivided Paleogene (Paleocene-Eocene?), Oligocene-early Miocene, and Pliocene-Pleistocene complexes. The obtained data on the age and formation settings of the defined complexes made it possible to reconstruct the geological evolution of the central Pacific slope of the Kurile island arc.     

East Sakhalin island arc paleosystem of the Sea of Okhotsk region

It has been established that volcanic rocks of the Schmidt, Rymnik, and Terpeniya terranes are fragments of the compound Early to Late Cretaceous-Paleogene East Sakhalin island arc system of the Sea of Okhotsk region. This island arc paleosystem was composed of back-arc volcano-plutonic belt, frontal volcanic island arc, fore-arc, inter-arc, and back-arc basins, and the Sakhalin marginal paleobasin. The continental volcanic rocks dominate in the back-arc volcano-plutonic belt and frontal volcanic island arc. The petrochemical composition of basalts, basaltic andesites, andesites, and trachytes from the frontal island arc formed in submarine conditions are typical of oceanic island arc or marginal sea rocks (IAB). The petrochemical composition of volcanic rocks from the island arc structures indicates its formation on the heterogeneous basement including the continental and oceanic blocks.     

Late Palaeogene emplacement and late Neogene–Quaternary exhumation of the Kuril island-arc root (Kunashir island) constrained by multi-method thermochronometry

The Kuril islands constitute a volcanic island arc-trench system,stretching from eastern Hokkaido(Japan)to Kamchatka(Russia) along the northwestern Pacific subduction system.The current arc consists of several volcanic islands mainly with Neogene basement and capped by several,predominantly andesitic,active subduction stratovolcanoes.Kunashir Island is the southwestern-most island of the arc,just off the Hokkaido coast and represents the study area in this paper.The island is composed of a Lower Complex of mainly late Miocene to Pliocene volcanic rocks,covered by an Upper Complex of younger(basaltic)andesitic lava flows and tuffs on which currently four active volcanic edifices are built.In the Lower Complex sub-volcanic and deeper-seated intrusives of the so-called Prasolov and Dokuchaev magmatic complexes are found.More differentiated,tonalitic-granodioritic rocks were collected from these small intrusive bodies.An early Oligocene zircon LA-ICP-MS U/Pb age of 31 Ma for the Prasolov Complex was obtained,showing that the basement of Kunashir Island is older than previously thought.Thermochronometry(apatite fission-track and U-Th-Sm/He and zircon U-Th/He analyses) further shows that the magmatic basement of the island was rapidly exhumed in the Pleistocene to present levels in a differential pattern,with He-ages ranging from 1.9 to 0.8 Ma.It is shown that the northern section of the island was hereby exhumed more intensely.     

Composition and Depositional Settings of Lower Cretaceous Terrigenous Rocks of the Kema River Basin,Eastern Sikhote Alin

Based on structure, mineralogy, petrography, and geodynamic setting of sedimentation, Barremian(?)-Albian terrigenous rocks in the Kema terrane (Eastern Sikhote Alin) are interpreted as back-arc rocks of the Moneron-Samarga island-arc system. The composition of terrigenous rocks indicates that an ensialic volcanic island arc, the basement of which was composed of the oceanward-advancing continental crust fragment, served as the main source of clastic material. Genetic features of rocks suggest their formation in the lower zone and near the foothill of submarine slope, as well as in adjacent areas of the basin plain. Accumulation of the thick gravitational sequence in the rear zone of the island arc was accompanied by active volcanic processes.     

新疆东准噶尔喀姆斯特晚古生代沉积记录:物源和沉积作用研究

东准噶尔喀姆斯特下泥盆统阿拉比也巴斯他乌组和下石炭统卡姆斯特组代表陆壳增生不同阶段的沉积响应.碎屑岩碎屑组成模式和地球化学分析结果表明阿拉比也巴斯他乌组形成于大洋-活动大陆过渡型构造环境,物源区主要为发育在过渡型地壳之上的岩浆岛弧;卡姆斯特组形成于活动大陆型构造环境,物源区主要为大陆岛弧环境的切割岩浆弧.沉积相、相组合及生物生态等沉积特征显示两组的沉积环境分别为海底斜坡和海底扇中扇-外扇盆地平原.结合区域构造分析和地层对比研究,下泥盆统阿拉比也巴斯他乌组海底斜坡沉积是东准噶尔构造带早泥盆世弧后盆地沉积响应的主要记录,卡姆斯特组海底扇-海底平原沉积则主要记录了东准噶尔复合地体早石炭世晚期弧间残余海盆的沉积响应.两套沉积响应记录的环境演化受控于中亚型造山带复杂的造山作用.     

Geochemistry of the submarine Vityaz Ridge at the pacific slope of the Kurile island arc

This paper reports the results of geological studies at the submarine Vityaz Ridge carried out during cruises 37 and 41 on the R/V “Akademik Lavrent’ev” in 2005 and 2006. The studied area is located at the near-island trench of the slope in the central part of the Kurile island arc. Morphologically, it consists of two parts: inner volcanic arc represented by the Great Kurile Range and outer arc corresponding to the submarine Vityaz Ridge. Diverse rocks that compose the basement and sedimentary cover of the ridge were recovered by dredging. Based on K-Ar dating and geochemistry, the volcanics were divided into Paleocene, Eocene, late Oligocene, and Pliocene-Pleistocene complexes. Each of the distinguished complexes reflects the tectonomagmatic stage in the ridge evolution. The geochemical and isotope data on the volcanics indicate the contribution of ancient crustal material in magma source and, correspondingly, the formation of this structure on the continental basement. Two-stage model ages, T_DM2, vary in a wide range from zero values in the mafic rocks to 0.77 Ga in felsic varieties, pointing to the presence of Precambrian protolith in the source of the felsic rocks of the Vityaz Ridge. The Pliocene-Pleistocene volcanics are classed with the tholeiitic, calc-alkaline, and subalkaline series, which differ in alkali contents and REE fractionation. The values of (La/Sm)_N and (La/Yb)_N ratios vary from 0.74 and 0,84 in the tholeiitic varieties to 1.19 and 1.44 in the calcalkaline and 2.32 and 3.73 in the subalkaline rocks. All three varieties occur within the same volcanic edifices and were formed during differentiation of magmatic melt that were channeled along fault zones from the mantle source slightly enriched in crustal component     

Composition,sources, and mechanisms of formation of the continental crust of the Lake zone of the Central Asian Caledonides. II. Geochemical and Nd isotope data

Part II of this paper reports geochemical and Nd isotope characteristics of the volcanogenic and siliceous-terrigenous complexes of the Lake zone of the Central Asian Caledonides and associating granitoids of various ages. Geological, geochronological, geochemical, and isotopic data were synthesized with application to the problems of the sources and main mechanisms of continental crust formation and evolution for the Caledonides of the Central Asian orogenic belt. It was found that the juvenile sialic crust of the Lake zone was formed during the Vendian-Cambrian (approximately 570–490 Ma) in an environment of intraoceanic island arcs and oceanic islands from depleted mantle sources with the entrainment of sedimentary crustal materials into subduction zones and owing to the accretion processes of the amalgamation of paleoceanic and island arc complexes and Precambrian microcontinents, which terminated by ∼490 Ma. The source of primary melts for the low-Ti basalts, andesites, and dacites of the Lake zone ophiolites and island arc complexes was mainly the depleted mantle wedge above a subduction zone. In addition, an enriched plume source contributed to the genesis of the high-Ti basalts and gabbroids of oceanic plateaus. The source of terrigenous rocks associating with the volcanics was composed of materials similar in composition to the country rocks at a minor and varying role of ancient crustal materials introduced into the ocean basin owing to the erosion of Precambrian microcontinents. The sedimentary rocks of the accretionary prism were derived by the erosion of mainly juvenile island arc sources with a minor contribution of rocks of the mature continental crust. The island arc and accretion stages of the development of the Lake zone (∼540–590 Ma) were accompanied by the development of high- and low-alumina sodic granitoids through the melting at various depths of depleted mantle reservoirs (metabasites of a subducted oceanic slab and a mantle wedge) and at the base of the island arc at the subordinate role of ancient crustal rocks. The melts of the postaccretion granitoids of the Central Asian Caledonides were derived mainly from the rocks of the juvenile Caledonian crust at an increasing input of an ancient crustal component owing to the tectonic mixing of the rocks of ophiolitic and island arc complexes and microcontinents. The obtained results indicate that the Vendian-Early Paleozoic stage of the evolution of the Central Asian orogenic belt was characterized by the extensive growth of juvenile continental crust and allow us to distinguish a corresponding stage of juvenile crust formation.     

Palynological characteristics of the sediments of the Malokuril’skaya formation (Maastrichtian-Danian), Shikotan Island

A spore-pollen assemblage was established for the first time in the sediments of the Malokuril??skaya Formation (Khromova Bay, Shikotan Island, Lesser Kuril Range, Kuril island arc system). This find enabled dating of the sediments of the uppermost part of the Malokuril??skaya Formation, which, based on this data, are referred to the Maastrichtian-Danian boundary. The assemblage of radiolarian species was identified for the entire section of the Malokuril??skaya Formation. In sediments of the lower part of the section, members of the Inoceramus group were described. These findings add new information to the paleontological characteristics of the Malokuril??skaya Formation. Moreover, our work allowed detailed correlation of the palynological assemblage studied with coeval palynological assemblages of adjacent areas. The similarity of Cretaceous-Paleogene sections of the Ust-Palanskaya (West Kamchatka), Uchir (Sakhalin Island) and Malokuril??skaya Formations, the Upper Cretaceous basement and the Cenozoic cover of the underwater Vityaz Ridge support the shared history of the development of the entire transition zone from the marginal Sea of Okhotsk to the Pacific at the Maastrichtian-Danian boundary.     

Indian MORB-type mantle beneath the Kuril Island arc: Isotopic investigation of the mafic lavas of Kunashir Island

New data on the Hf, Pb, and Nd isotopes of the mafic rocks of various ages from Kunashir Island were used to address the nature of the sub-arc mantle of the southern segment of the Kuril island arc. At least since Late Cenozoic, its isotopic characteristics have been the MORB-type mantle of the Indian Ocean. Its boundary with the mantle reservoir of the Pacific MORB-type coincided probably with the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench.     

Early Precambrian granitoids of the Batomga inlier of the southeastern Siberian Platform basement: Age and geodynamic formation settings

New data on the age, composition, sources, and formation conditions of the Early Precambrian granitoids of the Batomga inlier of the southeastern Siberian Platform basement are discussed. Geochronological SRHIMP II U–Pb study of the zircons reveals that the calc-alkaline granitoids of the Khoyunda Complex are 2056–2057 Ma in age and their formation was related to the Early Proterozoic stage in the development of the Batomga granite–greenstone domain. It is established that the primary melts for these rocks formed in subduction settings through melting of the depleted mantle source with some contribution of ancient crustal material. In terms of temperature, partial melting followed by crystallization of the granitoids under peak metamorphic conditions corresponds to the transition between amphibolite and granulite facies at elevated pressure; high temperature and high-grade metamorphism are subduction-related phenomena reflected in the back-arc settings of the active continental margin. The protoliths of calc-alkaline metavolcanics of the Batomga Group are found to be chronologically and compositionally analogous to the subduction granitoids of the Khoyunda and Dzhagdakan complexes; i.e., these granitoids are coeval with the Batomga island arc. The lower age limit of the Batomga Group is estimated at 2.2 Ga and its upper age limit is defined by the age of the intruded Khoyunda granitoids. The formation of the rocks of the Batomga Group and associated granitoids of the Khoyunda and Dzhagdakan complexes reflects the formation of the continental crust at the Early Paleoproterozoic stage of the evolution of the Batomga lithosphere block (2.2–2.0 Ga ago).     

Geochemistry and petrogenesis of volcanic rocks in the Kuril island arc

Newly obtained precise analytical data on trace elements and radiogenic Sr, Nd, and Pb isotopes testify to anomalous geochemical characteristics of mafic and intermediate Quaternary lavas in Paramushir (in the north of the Kuril arc), Kunashir and Iturup (in the south) islands, which are the largest three islands of the Kuril island arc. The high K and LREE concentrations in the volcanic products in Paramushir Island resulted from the southward expansion of the mantle thermal anomaly of the Kamchatka Peninsula and the involvement of melts related to the melting of oceanic sediments in magma generation. The depleted characteristics of the mafic volcanics are explained by the relatively young tectono-magmatic events during the opening of the Kuril backarc basin. The Kuril island-arc system developed on a heterogeneous basement. The northern islands are a continuation of the volcanic structures of southern Kamchatka, which were formed above an isotopically depleted and hot lithospheric mantle domain of composition close to that of the Pacific MORB type. The southern islands were produced above an isotopically enriched and cold lithospheric domain of the Indian-Ocean MORB type, which was modified in relation to relatively young backarc tectono-magmatic processes. Although issues related to the genesis of the transverse geochemical zoning were beyond the originally formulated scope of our research, the homogeneous enough isotopic composition of the rear-arc lavas in the absence of any mineralogical and geochemical lines of evidence of crustal contamination suggests an independent magmatic source.     

海南岛高峰、保城地区花岗岩年代学、地球化学特征及构造意义

海南岛南部地区遍布晚中生代花岗岩,高峰、保城岩体即为其中的典型代表。应用同位素地质年代学和岩石地球化学分析方法,测得两岩体的年龄分别为(105. 4±3. 7) Ma和(105. 8±2. 4) Ma,岩石硅、碱含量中等,铝饱和指数分别为0. 95～1. 03和1. 05～1. 30,轻稀土富集,重稀土亏损,轻重稀土分馏程度较高,高场强元素亏损,大离子亲石元素富集。斜长石含量> 19%,角闪石含量> 3%,石英含量﹤32%,P2O5与Si O2呈负相关,表明高峰、保城花岗岩体属于Ⅰ型花岗岩。海南岛南部晚中生代花岗岩的大量形成并非孤立现象,该地区早白垩世安山岩-流纹岩组合和白垩纪沉积序列与花岗岩一起构建起较为完整的安第斯型大陆边缘弧体系,而且这一活动陆缘体系在岩石组合、展布和演化特征上与时代大体相当的浙闽地区活动陆缘体系存在明显区别,在区域构造意义的研究中值得给予特别关注。     

喀喇昆仑地区早二叠世弧后盆地

喀喇昆仑山北坡明铁盖地区早二叠世的基性火山岩岩石化学和地球化学特征表明,它是一种既具有在硅铝质基底上扩张的洋脊玄武岩性质,又具有钙碱性岛弧拉斑玄武岩特点的弧后盆地火山岩。这一弧后盆地的形成与沿西金乌兰湖—空喀山口至乔戈里峰一线的古特提斯洋盆的扩张及向北俯冲、消减相联系,构成了塔里木板块南部晚古生代活动大陆边缘。     

Pliocene sediments of Shikotan Island (Lesser Kuril Ridge)

Shikotan Island of the Lesser Kuril Ridge forms, together with the Vityaz Ridge, the outer arc of the Kuril island-arc system. Marine Pliocene sediments first registered on the island contain diatoms and palynomorphs, which allow their dating. The thin Pliocene semiconsolidated sediments constitute the upper part of sections in the coastal and central areas of the island. They rest with the erosional surface and stratigraphic hiatus upon the Upper Cretaceous-Lower Paleogene (Campanian-Danian) Malokuril’sk Formation. The Pliocene sediments were deposited in relatively shallow-water environments of open sea near the shore, with a forest-free landscape and freshwater basins. The occurrence of reworked marine Oligocene and Miocene diatoms in these sedimentary rocks indicates their development in the Lesser Kuril Ridge area and contribution of their eroded material to the formation of Pliocene sequences. Wide development of Pliocene Marine sediments on Shikotan Island is evidence for ascending movements in the region during the post-Pliocene period, which is also characteristic of the Greater Kuril Ridge islands. The composition and formation conditions of the Pliocene sediments in the outer arc of the Kuril island-arc system suggest that the southwestern (Lesser Kuril Ridge) and northeastern (Vityaz Ridge) segments of this single anticlinal structure evolved under different tectonic regimes through the Pliocene.     

New data on the composition and age of granitoids in the northern part of the Tagil structure (Ural Mountains)

The Tagil structure representing a large fragment of the Paleozoic island arc on the eastern slope of the Urals has been sufficiently well studied in its southern part (Middle Urals). In contrast, reliable data on the age and geochemical properties of various, including granitoid, rock complexes available for its northern part are scarce. The first data on the U–Pb LA–ICP–MS age of zircons from quartz diorites of the Man’ya massif of the Petropavlovsk Complex (436 ± 3 Ma, MSWD = 1.3), tonalites of the same complex (439.4 ± 1.3 Ma, MSWD = 1.3), granites of the Yuzhno-Pomur massif of the Severorudnichnyi Complex (422.4 ± 3 Ma, MSWD = 1.5), and titanite of the same massif (423.4 ± 4.4 Ma, MSWD = 0.84) have been obtained. Based on these data combined with the geochemical properties of the host rocks, the conclusion that they were crystallized at the initial stages of the formation of comagmatic volcanic series is supported; by their composition, granitoids correspond to island arc igneous rocks.     

A comment on “Tectonic evolution of the Hengshan–Wutai–Fuping complexes and its implication for the Trans-North China Orogen”

In a recent issue of Precambrian Research (vol. 170, pp. 73–87), Wang (2009) published a paper entitled ‘Tectonic evolution of the Hengshan–Wutai–Fuping complexes and its implication for the Trans-North China Orogen, in which he proposes that (1) the formation of arc-related igneous rocks in the Hengshan and Wutai Complexes formed by northwest-directed subduction, not by (south)east-directed subduction; and (2) the Wutai granitoids were the products of an intra-oceanic island arc, not formed in a continent-derived arc. However, we consider both the structural and geochemical approaches Wang (2009) adopted to determine the polarity of the subduction and the tectonic setting of the Wutai granitoids are inappropriate or invalid. Firstly, all his structural observations used to determine the polarity of subduction are restricted to the Zhujiafang and Longquanguan ductitle shear zones, both of which developed at the late stage. It is unreliable to use kinematic indicators from these later structures to infer the polarity of the pre-collisional subduction. Secondly, Wang (2009) assumed that the initial positive ?(Nd) values (+0.5 to +4.5) of the Wutai granitoids indicate their generation directly from a mantle source, forming in an intra-oceanic arc. Such an interpretation is incorrect because the positive ?(Nd) values of the Wutai granitoids merely indicate that the igneous protoliths of these granitoids originated from a depleted mantle source, not the Wutai granitoids themselves. As the products of the earliest arc magmatism in the Wutai arc, the Wutai granitoids could not be generated directly from a mantle source but must have been derived by partial melting of juvenile crust.     

祁漫塔格造山带——青藏高原北部地壳演化窥探

祁漫塔格是东昆仑造山带的一个分支,位于青藏高原中北部,夹持于柴达木盆地和库木库里盆地中间,向西被阿尔金走滑断裂错段。从元古代到早中生代,由于受到多期、多阶段大洋俯冲和关闭影响,导致不同地体间发生碰撞拼贴和大陆增生过程,并由此引发一系列的岩浆事件。祁漫塔格造山带内发育新元古代花岗岩(1000~820 Ma)是对Rodinia超大陆形成的响应。以阿达滩和白干湖逆冲断裂为界,划分为南、北祁漫塔格两地体。北祁漫塔格地体作为活动大陆边缘,发育大量的早古生代与俯冲有关的花岗岩和VA型蛇绿岩;南祁漫塔格地体最初为洋内俯冲形成的原始大洋岛弧,发育早古生代SSZ型蛇绿岩、岛弧拉斑玄武岩和钙碱性火山岩。随着持续俯冲,年轻岛弧伴伴随地壳加厚转变为成熟岛弧。南、北祁漫塔格地体间的碰撞(弧-陆碰撞)可能发生在晚志留世(422Ma),并持续到早泥盆世(398Ma)。在此期间(422~389Ma),南祁漫塔格地体内发育一系列同碰撞型花岗岩;北祁漫塔格地体内发育一系列的大洋岛弧花岗岩。南祁漫塔格作为外来地体,碰撞拼贴对于大陆边缘、大陆增生意义重大。之后,南、北祁漫塔格地体进入后碰撞环境并发育一系列板内花岗岩。此外,伸展导致造山带垮塌,发育中泥盆统磨拉石建造。碰撞使得海沟后退,海沟阻塞导致俯冲减弱甚至停止,因而产生了石炭-二叠纪(357~251 Ma)岩浆活动缺口。古特提斯祁漫塔格洋的最终关闭可能始于晚二叠世,使得库木库里微板块拼贴于大陆边缘;碰撞抬升导致缺失上二叠统-中三叠统地层。早中三叠世(251~237 Ma)由于碰撞,俯冲大洋板片回转,之后断离,软流圈地幔物质沿岩石圈地幔通道上涌,使得新生下地壳部分熔融;到了晚三叠世,大规模岩石圈地幔和下地壳物质拆沉,导致古老地壳物质发生熔融,形成了一系列后碰撞背景下的钙碱性和碱性花岗岩。     

Petrology and geochemistry of plutonic rocks in the Northwest Pacific Ocean and their geodynamic interpretation

The paper presents data on the petrology and geochemistry of plutonic rocks dredged from the Stalemate Fracture Zone, Northwest Pacific Ocean, during Cruise SO201-1 of the R/V “Sonne”. We proposed also the reconstruction of their formation conditions and interpretation of their tectonic evolution. The genesis of gabbroids found among plutonic rocks composing the Cretaceous-Paleogene basement of the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean was related to magmatism at the ancient spreading center and provides record of the evolution of the parental magmatic melts of N-MORB. Along with related peridotites, basalts, and dolerites, these rocks can be attributed to the disintegrated the Cretaceous-Paleogene oceanic lithosphere of the Pacific Ocean. The shallow mantle beneath the ancient oceanic crust of this area is made up of depleted magmatic spinel lherzolite, harzburgite, and dunite. The fact that gabbro-diorite and diorite that are not genetically related to the rocks of the Cretaceous-Paleogene basement of the Northwest Pacific occur at the eastern termination of the Stalemate Fracture Zone possibly reflects the complicated structure of the tectonic collage of rocks of different age that were produced in different geodynamic environments and were later tectonically brought together near the frontal portion of the Aleutian island arc. Judging by the isotopic-geochemical characteristics of these rocks, they cannot be classed with the family of oceanic plagiogranites. Deformations of the oceanic basement can be discerned throughout the whole Stalemate Fracture Zone as brecciation and large-amplitude vertical displacements within the oceanic lithosphere.     

Late Proterozoic older granitoids from the North Eastern desert of Egypt: petrogenesis and geodynamic implications

Major, trace, and REE data for three localities of calc?Calkaline older granitoid rocks exposed in the north Eastern Desert of Egypt are presented. These rocks were selected to cover wide compositional spectrum of the Egyptian older granitoid varieties. They are petrographically represented by granodiorite, tonalite, quartz?Cdiorite, and quartz?Cmonzodiorite. The rocks are comparable with the peraluminous, unfractionated calc?Calkaline suites and fall within the volcanic arc and I-type granite fields. So, they can be regarded as belonging to the volcanic arc collision stage (665?C614?Ma). The granitoids are geochemically similar to other rocks recorded from continental margin arc-systems being exhibit light-REE enriched patterns with variable but chiefly positive Eu anomaly. The latter has reverse relationship with the ??REE, which was attributed to the fractionation of hornblende during partial melting. These patterns are comparable with models involving partial melting of amphibolitic source. This source must represent basalts, gabbros, or volcanics of an island arc system that were transformed to the level of the island arc crust during continental growth where the P?CT conditions are suitable for partial melting. Thus, it is plausible that the studied rocks were derived by partial melting of LREE-enriched, garnet-free, and amphibole-bearing (i.e., hydrated) mafic source. Wadi Milaha granitoids are consistent with the derivation by a high degree of partial melting (30?C40%) of amphibolite protolith in the deep crust. However, the two other localities (Wadi Umm Anab and West Gharib) are matching with 20?C30% partial melting. Within each locality, variation in rock types from granodiorite to tonalite is said to be dominated by variable degree of restite separation during magma ascent. The high water and volatile contents in Wadi Milaha granitoids allowed higher degree of partial melting (30?C40%). Moreover, the lower volatile contents in the other two localities (Wadi Umm Anab and West Gharib) gave lower degrees of partial melting (20?C30%). These processes may resemble important geodynamic features of the Arabo-Nubian Shield evolution in the north Eastern Desert of Egypt.     

Late Mesozoic and Cenozoic volcanosedimentary complexes from the submarine Vityaz Ridge,the Island Arc slope of the Kuril-Kamchatka trench,and its evolution

This paper describes the volcanosedimentary complexes of different ages (Late Cretaceous-Early Paleocene, Paleocene-Eocene (?), Oligocene-Early Miocene, and Pliocene-Pleistocene) that compose the basement and sedimentary cover of the submarine Vityaz Ridge. It was found that the Upper Cretaceous sedimentary rocks from the basement of the Vityaz Ridge (felsic) and the Lesser Kuril Ridge (mafic) have different compositions. Matrix mineral assemblages corresponding to the smectite and corrensite stages of epigenesis of Cenozoic rocks were distinguished, and a scheme of the Late Cretaceous-Pleistocene geological evolution of the region was proposed.