大陆解体与被动陆缘的演化

火山型被动陆缘是大陆解体过程中形成的一类陆缘类型,其演化过程与活动陆缘一样复杂多变。随着近年来对大陆解体过程与被动陆缘演化的深入研究,对其沉积过程、岩浆活动以及变质作用研究都有了很大的进展。陆壳减薄解体的过程有许多不同的模式,不对称的简单剪切模式可能是火山型被动陆缘的成因,其机制是软流圈隆起的最大位置从剖面上看与地壳减薄最大位置不在一条垂线上,造成软流圈上升的岩浆在解体的大陆一侧形成火山型被动陆缘。被动陆缘的沉积建造由两套沉积物组成,一套是大陆解体的裂谷阶段所形成的陆相沉积物和双模式火山岩组合,另一套是稳定陆缘的复理石组合;岩浆作用中基性岩类反应了物质直接源于上地幔的主要特点,并有部分受到地壳混染的特征;变质作用中高温低压环境主要发生在裂谷作用阶段,其特点反映了大陆解体过程中随着时间的增温和减压过程,而拆离伸展阶段则被脆性变形所代替。     

新疆主要造山带地壳发展的五阶段模式及成矿系列

按汉尼克（１９８１）提出的简单剪切模式，大陆解离是沿一条缓倾斜的拆离带发生移离。随着拆离的发展，上地慢软流圈隆起追随拆离面下降的一侧迁移，而始终处于解离大陆一侧边缘的下方（而不是在拉伸洋盆的中线上）。因此，在有上地幔软流圈隆起对应的陆缘一侧，会产生大量火山—深成岩浆作用（主要是上地幔物质的渗入），称为“岩浆型被动陆缘”（旧称“火山型被动陆缘”）；而另一侧，则仅表现为地壳表层的构造破坏和陆源碎屑堆积作用，即经典意义上的大西洋型被动陆缘，称为“非岩浆型被动陆缘”。裂谷一般地可看成是上述解离过程初期阶段的产物。上述过程的几种构造环境下的地壳，都具有厚度减小、地壳渗透性增加、成熟度降低的特点，称为“拉张型过渡壳”。拉张型过渡壳阶段是陆同型造山带地壳发展中必不可少的阶段。它的标志性建造是双峰式火山岩建造（岩浆型被动陆缘）和巨厚陆源碎屑岩夹基性火山岩建造（非岩浆型被动陆缘），建造序列由稳定性类型向非稳定性类型演化，地球化学表现出成熟度不断降低的趋势。当基底陆壳拉伸减薄至零时，出现洋壳，洋壳阶段的产物为蛇绿岩建造。当扩张终止，洋盆开始消减，两侧陆缘演化即进入“汇聚型过渡壳阶段”。在汇聚阶段中，前两阶段形成的产物被强烈堆挤     

吉林中部西保安期拉张型被动大陆边缘地质特征

吉中西保安期地层分布在敦密断裂以北，认为是该区古华北大陆板块北部褶皱带中最下部层位，为一套火山—沉积岩系。从建造组合及岩石化学等方面均反映该期为拉张型被动大陆边缘。该被动陆缘大致有三个连续的演化过程。推测它是在元古早期泛大陆基础上，由裂谷作用和地壳拉伸减薄作用下形成的，属拉张型过渡壳。     

吉林中部西保安期拉张型被动大陆边缘地质特征

吉中西保安期地层分布在敦密断裂以北，认为是该区古华北大陆板块北部褶皱带嘬下部层位，为一套火山－沉积岩系。从建造组合及岩石化学等方面均反映该期为拉张型被动大陆边级，该被动陆缘大致有三个连续的演化过程。推测它是在元古早期泛大陆基础上，由裂谷作用和地壳拉伸减薄作用下形成的，属拉张型过渡壳。     

洋-陆转换带类型与成因机制

洋-陆转换带是被动陆缘的特殊构造,是伸展背景下大陆岩石圈与大洋岩石圈相互作用的关键区域,对于理解和认识大洋和大陆的地球动力过程、机制尤为关键。基于不同的被动陆缘类型,本文总结了不同类型被动陆缘的洋-陆转换带分类及特征,同时探讨其成因机制。根据大陆边缘类型,洋-陆转换带可以划分为四类,火山型被动陆缘中以海倾反射层和下地壳高速体为特征的洋-陆转换带、非火山型被动陆缘蛇纹石化地幔橄榄岩出露的洋-陆转换带、异常减薄洋壳组成的洋-陆转换带、强烈减薄陆壳为主的洋-陆转换带。洋-陆转换带成因模式取决于不同类型被动陆缘的伸展破裂过程,火山型被动陆缘起源于主动的火山裂谷,通过热作用来减薄岩石圈的底部进而发生地幔熔融,产生溢流玄武岩,浅表形成海倾反射体,下地壳表现为高P波速度异常且巨厚的高速体。非火山型陆缘的岩石圈横向伸展与深度相关,岩石圈变形既有均一纯剪切变形(均匀伸展)也有不对称的简单剪切变形(拆离断层)。     

关于岩浆型被动陆缘

在中国阿尔泰山南缘造山带的地质研究工作中发现，在这里存在一套有成生联系的花岗深成岩和火山岩系，它们不是板块汇聚阶段的产物，而是地壳拉张作用阶段的产物，它们形成于被动大陆边缘演化阶段。我们把这种大陆边缘称之为岩浆型波动陆缘，以便与无岩浆活动的大西洋型大陆边缘相区别。     

华南新元古代裂谷盆地演化——Rodinia超大陆解体的前奏

沉积学研究表明，华南新元古代沉积盆地具典型裂谷盆地沉积演化特征。代表裂谷盆地早期形成阶段的成因相组合有：冲洪积相组合、陆相（或海相）火山岩及火山碎屑岩相组合、滨浅海相沉积组合、淹没碳酸盐台地及欠补偿盆地黑色页岩相组合；而代表中、后期形成阶段的成因相组合有：滨岸边缘相至深海相组合，冰期冰积岩相组合、碳酸盐岩及碳硅质细碎岩相组合。华南裂谷盆地岩相古地理演化经历了5个重要的时期，整体上反映了一个由陆变海、由地堑－地垒相间盆地变广海盆地、由浅海变深海、盆地上小变大的演化过程。裂谷盆地的形成经历了裂谷基的形成、地幔柱作用与裂谷体的形成，被动沉降（下坳）与裂谷盖的形成三个阶段。华南裂谷盆地的形成演化与Rodinia超大陆在新元古代时期的裂解作用密切相关，它是超大陆解体过程的一个重要组成部分。     

内蒙古白乃庙白银都西群的形成环境及其构造意义

白乃庙地区的白银都西群主要为一套中－高级变质岩系,具有以长英质变粒岩类、云母质片岩类和角闪质岩石为主的岩石组合特征。白银都西群长英质岩类主要原岩为长石石英砂岩和泥质岩石,属于在不稳定陆壳上形成的过渡型陆屑建造,原岩形成环境相当于一种非稳定陆壳基底上的盆地环境;白银都西群中角闪质岩石原岩为基性火山岩,岩石化学成分具大陆拉斑玄武岩特征,原岩来自幔源,但含有较多陆壳组分,其形成环境相当于大陆边缘。白银都西群沉积和岩浆建造特征表明,其形成环境是拉张条件下古大陆边缘裂陷槽环境,具火山型被动大陆边缘建造特征,代表中晚元古代陆缘拉张解体早期阶段形成的拉张型过渡壳。     

华南新元古代裂谷盆地演化

沉积学研究表明,华南新元古代沉积盆地具典型裂谷盆地沉积演化特征.代表裂谷盆地早期形成阶段的成因相组合有冲洪积相组合、陆相(或海相)火山岩及火山碎屑岩相组合、滨浅海相沉积组合、淹没碳酸盐台地及欠补偿盆地黑色页岩相组合;而代表中、后期形成阶段的成因相组合有滨岸边缘相至深海相组合,冰期冰积岩相组合、碳酸盐岩及碳硅质细碎屑岩相组合.华南裂谷盆地岩相古地理演化经历了5个重要的时期,整体上反映了一个由陆变海、由地堑-地垒相间盆地变广海盆地、由浅海变深海、盆地由小变大的演化过程.裂谷盆地的形成经历了裂谷基的形成、地幔柱作用与裂谷体的形成、被动沉降(下拗)与裂谷盖的形成三个阶段.华南裂谷盆地的形成演化与Rodinia超大陆在新元古代时期的裂解作用密切相关,它是超大陆解体过程的一个重要组成部分.     

太行山中生代板内造山作用与华北大陆岩石圈巨大减薄

近年来,华北大陆岩石圈巨大减薄成为国际地学界关注的焦点之一,但对其减薄的时间、机制仍然知之甚少。约束条件的多解性和表面上相互矛盾的证据导致了对区域构造发展史的模糊认识。笔者认为,华北板内造山过程是理解岩石圈巨大减薄机制的关键,因为华北岩石圈是在造山带而不是在克拉通基础上开始减薄过程的。岩石圈减薄过程可以划分为拆沉减薄、伸展减薄、热减薄和化学侵蚀减薄4种类型。前者依赖于岩石圈重力不稳定性,是一种突变过程;后三者取决于软流圈挤出构造,属于渐变过程。减薄过程主要始于120~110Ma的拆沉减薄,其标志是造山后脉岩组合的形成。亚洲大陆软流圈的多阶段汇聚过程造成软流圈向东挤出,是中国东部中新生代以来岩石圈持续减薄的重要基础。因此,大陆动力学与大洋最重要的区别之一就是大陆岩石圈经常发生减薄作用,特别是拆沉作用,并由此将软流圈系统区分为浅部混染系统和深部纯净系统,火成岩的地球化学属性主要取决于岩浆起源的深度。     

扬子板块北部古被动大陆边缘的地球化学特征

本文初次提出扬子板块北部古被动大陆边缘的地球化学特征是:a、裂陷早期阶段,发育碱性双峰式火山岩,但在裂陷的晚期和移离的早期阶段,发育碱性而不具双峰特征的火山岩、岩脉群;b、发育具两类不同地球化学特征的砂页岩,裂陷阶段形成的砂页岩与活动大陆边缘形成的砂页岩具相似的地球化学特征,移离阶段所形成的砂页岩才真正具被动大陆边缘砂页岩的地球化学特征。     

Wilson cycle passive margins: Control of orogenic inheritance on continental breakup

Rifts and passive margins often develop along old suture zones where colliding continents merged during earlier phases of the Wilson cycle. For example, the North Atlantic formed after continental break-up along sutures formed during the Caledonian and Variscan orogenies. Even though such tectonic inheritance is generally appreciated, causative physical mechanisms that affect the localization and evolution of rifts and passive margins are not well understood.We use thermo-mechanical modeling to assess the role of orogenic structures during rifting and continental breakup. Such inherited structures include: 1) Thickened crust, 2) eclogitized oceanic crust emplaced in the mantle lithosphere, and 3) mantle wedge of hydrated peridotite (serpentinite).Our models indicate that the presence of inherited structures not only defines the location of rifting upon extension, but also imposes a control on their structural and magmatic evolution. For example, rifts developing in thin initial crust can preserve large amounts of orogenic serpentinite. This facilitates rapid continental breakup, exhumation of hydrated mantle prior to the onset of magmatism. On the contrary, rifts in thicker crust develop more focused thinning in the mantle lithosphere rather than in the crust, and continental breakup is therefore preceded by magmatism. This implies that whether passive margins become magma-poor or magma-rich, respectively, is a function of pre-rift orogenic properties.The models show that structures of orogenic eclogite and hydrated mantle are partially preserved during rifting and are emplaced either at the base of the thinned crust or within the lithospheric mantle as dipping structures. The former provides an alternative interpretation of numerous observations of ‘lower crustal bodies’ which are often regarded as igneous bodies. The latter is consistent with dipping sub-Moho reflectors often observed in passive margins.     

Passive margins of the North and Central Atlantic: A comparative study

The main features of the volcanic and nonvolcanic passive margins of the North and Central Atlantic are considered. The margins are compared using rather well-studied reference tectonotypes as examples. The conjugate margins of the Norwegian-Greenland region and the margins of West Iberia and Newfoundland are chosen as tectonotypes of volcanic and nonvolcanic margins, respectively. The structural and magmatic features of the margins and their preceding history are discussed. A complex of interrelated attributes is shown for each tectonotype. The Norwegian-Greenland region close to the Iceland plume is distinguished by narrow zones of stretched continental crust, rapid localization of stretching with breakup of the continent, a high rate of subsequent spreading, and intense magmatism with the formation of a thick new crust at the margin and the adjacent oceanic zone. The Iberia-Newfoundland region, remote from the plumes, is characterized by wide zones of stretched continental crust, long-term and diachronous prebreakup extension propagating northward, extremely restricted mantle melting during rifting and initial spreading, and frequent occurrence of ancient crustal complexes and serpentinized mantle rocks at the margin. Crustal faults and a thin tectonized oceanic crust appear along the margin under conditions of slow spreading. A model of hot and fast spreading with a high degree of melting in the mantle is applicable to the Norwegian-Greenland region, whereas a model of cold and slow amagmatic rifting with a long pre-breakup stretching and thinning of the lithosphere is appropriate to the Iberia-Newfoundland margins. The differences in the development of the margins is determined by the interaction of many factors: deep temperature, rheology of the underlying lithosphere, heterogeneities in the previously formed crust, and the duration and rate of stretching. All of these factors can be related to the effect of deep plumes and propagation of the extension zone toward the segments of the cold Atlantic lithosphere. Both types of margins also reveal similar features, in particular asymmetry. It is suggested that the rotation forces superimposed on the general tectonomagmatic pattern controlled by plumes could have been the cause of structural asymmetry.     

Structure and evolution of an obliquely sheared continental margin: Rio Muni, West Africa

Oblique-shear margins are divergent continental terrains whose breakup and early drift evolution are characterized by significant obliquity in the plate divergence vector relative to the strike of the margin. We focus on the Rio Muni margin, equatorial West Africa, where the ca. 70-km-wide Ascension Fracture Zone (AFZ) exhibits oblique–slip faulting and synrift half-graben formation that accommodated oblique extension during the period leading up to and immediately following whole lithosphere failure and continental breakup (ca. 117 Ma). Oblique extension is recorded also by strike–slip and oblique–slip fault geometry within the AFZ, and buckling of Aptian synrift rocks in response to block rotation and local transpression. Rio Muni shares basic characteristics of both rifted and transform margins, the end members of a spectrum of continental margin kinematics. At transform margins, continental breakup and the onset of oceanic spreading (drifting) are separate episodes recorded by discrete breakup and drift unconformities. Oceanic opening will proceed immediately following breakup on a rifted margin, whereas transform and oblique-shear margins may experience several tens of millennia between breakup and drift. Noncoeval breakup and drift have important consequences for the fit of the equatorial South American and African margins because, in reconstructing the configuration of conjugate continental margins at the time of their breakup, it cannot be assumed that highly segmented margins like the South Atlantic will match each other at their ocean–continent boundaries (OCBs). Well known ‘misfits’ in reconstructions of South Atlantic continental margins may be accounted for by differential timing of breakup and drifting between oblique-shear margins and their adjacent rifted segments.     

The Xiong'er volcanic belt at the southern margin of the North China Craton: Petrographic and geochemical evidence for its outboard position in the Paleo-Mesoproterozoic Columbia Supercontinent

The Xiong'er volcanic belt, covering an area of more than 60,000 km² along the southern margin of the North China Craton, has long been considered an intra-continental rift zone and recently interpreted as part of a large igneous province formed by a mantle plume that led to the breakup of the Paleo-Mesoproterozoic supercontinent Columbia. However, such interpretations cannot be accommodated by lithology, mineralogy, geochemistry and geochronology of the volcanic rocks in the belt. Lithologically, the Xiong'er volcanic belt is dominated by basaltic andesite and andesite, with minor dacite and rhyolite, different from rock associations related to continental rifts or mantle plumes, which are generally bimodal and dominated by mafic components. However, they are remarkably similar to those rock associations in modern continental margin arcs. In some of the basaltic andesites and andesites, amphibole is a common phenocryst phase, suggesting the involvement of H₂O-rich fluids in the petrogenesis of the Xiong'er volcanic rocks. Geochemically, the Xiong'er volcanic rocks fall in the calc-alkaline series, and in most tectono-magmatic discrimination diagrams, the majority of the Xiong'er volcanic rocks show affinities to magmatic arcs. In the primitive mantle normalized trace-element diagrams, the Xiong'er volcanic rocks show enrichments in the LILE and LREE, and negative Nb–Ta–Ti anomalies, similar to arc-related volcanic rocks produced by the hydrous melting of metasomatized mantle wedge. Nd-isotope compositions of the Xiong'er volcanic rocks suggest that 5–15% older crust has been transferred into the upper lithospheric mantle by subduction-related recycling during Archean to Paleoproterozoic time. Available SHRIMP and LA-ICP-MS U–Pb zircon age data indicate that the Xiong'er volcanic rocks erupted intermittently over a protracted interval from 1.78 Ga, through 1.76–1.75 Ga and 1.65 Ga, to 1.45 Ga, though the major phase of the volcanism occurred at 1.78–1.75 Ga. Such multiple and intermittent volcanism is inconsistent with a mantle plume-driven rifting event, but is not uncommon in ancient and existing continental margin arcs. Taken together, the Xiong'er volcanic belt was most likely a Paleo-Mesoproterozoic continental magmatic arc that formed at the southern margin of the North China Craton. Similar Paleo-Mesoproterozoic continental magmatic arcs were also present at the southern and southeastern margins of Laurentia, the southern margin of Baltica, the northwestern margin of Amonzonia, and the southern and eastern margins of the North Australia Craton, which are considered to represent subduction-related episodic outbuilding on the continental margins of the Paleo-Mesoproterozoic supercontinent Columbia. Therefore, in any configuration of the supercontinent Columbia, the southern margin of the North China Craton could not have been connected to any other continental block as proposed in a recent configuration, but must have faced an open ocean whose lithosphere was subducted beneath the southern margin of the North China Craton.     

Tectonotype of nonvolcanic passive margins in the Iberia-Newfoundland region

The tectonotype of nonvolcanic passive margins is discussed on the basis of data on the conjugate margins of West Iberia and Newfoundland. Magmatic, structural, and historical aspects are considered. The Late Mesozoic structural elements related to rifting and transition to spreading are considered, as well as the Early Mesozoic sedimentary basins that begin the history of oceanic opening. The problem is set to determine the tectonic conditions of the early opening of the ocean in the framework of the chosen tectonoptype. These conditions are compared with the setting at the volcanic margins. The formation of the conjugate Iberia-Newfoundland margins is reconstructed as an asymmetric rift system developing in an almost amagmatic regime. All three segments of the margins on both sides of the ocean reveal similar features of transverse zoning with zones of the tectonized continental, transitional, and oceanic crust oriented nearly parallel to the margin. Special attention is called to the old age of the continental crust and subcontinental mantle and the absence of newly formed crystalline crust; the stadial tectonic and rheological evolution of the crust and lithospheric mantle; the specific features of the transitional zone; the serpentinization and exhumation of mantle peridotites and their role in the development of detachment at the crust-mantle interface, related listric faults and the Peridotite Ridge, attenuation of the medium, further localization of continental breakup, and the eventual development of asymmetric conjugate margins. Two papers characterizing the tectonotypes of volcanic and nonvolcanic passive margins ([2] and this paper) determine the line of further comparative analysis necessary for insights into the geodynamics of ocean opening.     

Dating Gondwanan continental crust at the Rio Grande Rise,South Atlantic

Crystalline continental rocks and associated crust‐contaminated basaltic rocks were unexpectedly dredged on the crest and at seamounts of the Rio Grande Rise, South Atlantic. Zircon U–Pb ages of one gabbro (ca. 2,200 Ma) and four granitoids (between ca. 1,430–480 Ma) indicate that the breakup of SW Gondwana left behind continental fragments of dominantly African age. These rocks may have been incorporated into the oceanic lithosphere by complex processes including rifting and interaction of the Tristan‐Gough mantle plume with hyperextended continental margins. Until ca. 80–70 Ma, the Rio Grande Rise and an old portion of the Walvis Ridge formed a conjugate pair of aseismic ridges, and the Tristan‐Gough plume was positioned at the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge. The finding of continental rock fragments in one of these conjugate pairs opens new perspectives on the mechanisms of continental break‐up, the nature of this conjugate pair, and the geodynamic evolution of rifted Gondwana margins in the South Atlantic.     

华北板块北缘东段中元古代造山带地质特征及构造演化

研究区内的中元古代魏家沟岩群原岩为一套碳酸盐岩、陆缘碎屑岩及火山岩建造,形成于大陆裂谷-活动大陆边缘阶段,并于1036 Ma左右遭受变质变形.通过岩浆岩形成构造环境的判别,研究区中元古代岩浆活动贯穿于板块碰撞前、同碰撞及碰撞后.伴随着造山带的演化,本区中元古代经历了3期韧性变形,分别形成于大陆裂谷、活动大陆边缘及碰撞造山阶段.通过上述研究,确定了本区中元古代造山带的存在,并经历了大陆裂谷-被动大陆边缘-活动大陆边缘-碰撞造山的地质演化过程,证实了格林维尔造山运动在华北板块北缘的存在和对中元古代末期Rodinia超大陆拼合的响应.     

Tectonotype of volcanic passive margins in the Norwegian-Greenland region

A tectonotype of volcanic passive margins exemplified in the conjugate Norwegian and East Greenland margins is considered, with discussion of the Paleogene igneous complexes and the regional rift structure before continental breakup. Fragments of asymmetrical rift have been retained on both sides of the ocean. Large Cretaceous pre-rift sedimentation basins marking the initial stage of the ocean opening are included into the passive margin as well. The continental breakup was accompanied by intense basaltic magmatism over a short time span. This magmatic episode was distinguished by (1) the formation of widespread plateau-basalt complexes on continents and in near-shore areas of the ocean; (2) the development of thick lava series that are recorded in seaward dipping reflector wedges; (3) thick high-velocity lower crust, resulting from magmatic underplating; (4) asymmetrical accretion of the crust and structure formation. The discussion is based on published seismic data and reference sections selected for each margin with consideration of the composition and thickness of the igneous rocks, their lateral variations, source composition, and eruption and crust formation conditions. The characteristic feature of both sections is the two-member structure of volcanic complexes with substantial geochemical differences between the rocks from the lower and upper parts of the section, which correspond to the pre-breakup and breakup phases. At the initial phase, small magma volumes were melted out from the lithosphere. The geochemical signatures of the upper parts of the sections testify to the melting of the asthenospheric mantle. Their spatiotemporal variations reflect the ascent and melting of the deep plume, which was active during and after continental breakup. In the Greenland area, near the central part of the plume, a N-MORB-type mantle magma source gave way to a depleted Iceland-type mantle, while apart from the central part of the plume, its effect is expressed only in the enormous volume of mantle-derived melt without migration of its source. A variety of evidence is provided for the plume’s activity: the great thickness of the volcanic complexes and the relatively stable composition of the melt; the elevated temperature in the mantle; the specific geochemistry of the breakup-related lavas and their lateral zoning; conclusions on the necessity of dynamic support of volcanic eruptions; and recent results of seismographic tomography. The continental breakup inherited a system of older sedimentary basins in the zone of prolonged extension of the lithosphere in the North Atlantic. The continuous dynamic support of extension was most likely provided by long-term ascent of the Iceland plume. The comparison of the considered tectonotype with other volcanic and non-volcanic margins opens the way to further elucidation of the geodynamic processes responsible for the ocean opening.