Petrotectonic Summary of Less Intensively Studied UHP Regions

This paper summaries tectonic settings and mineral parageneses of several recognized ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) terranes other than the well-studied Kokchetav Massif of northern Kazakhstan, the Western Gneiss Region of Norway, the Dora-Maira massif of the Western Alps, and the Dabie-Sulu terrane of east-central China. Diamond-bearing terranes include the Beni Bousera/Ronda peridotite massif, the Erzgebirge Crystalline Complex, mantle peridotite from a Tibetan ophiolite, and possibly the Maksyutov Complex. Coesite-bearing UHP terranes are the Zermatt-Saas area, Western Alps; the Mali eclogites from West Africa; the Makabal complex of western Tien Shan; the Bohemian massif; and the newly reported Central Indonesia terrane and Himalayan eclogites from the upper Kaghan Valley of Pakistan. Except for the diamond-bearing Tibetan ophiolite, most UHP terranes share similar petrotectonic assemblages and lie within major continental collision belts in Eurasia and Africa. Using new approaches (including new geobarometers) and technologies, additional UHP terranes are expected to be recognized in other Phanenorozic orogenic sutures.     

Zur Tektonik der penninischen Zone in der weiteren Umrahmung des nördlichen Dora-Maira-Massivs,italienische Westalpen

Tectonic analysis within the Mesozoic sequence of the Pennine belt in the vicinity of the northern Dora-Maira massif resulted in the discovery of three different B-axes of Alpine age:

1. 1.
   The oldest one with NNW-trending axes is found to have been developed exclusively to the south and west of the Ambin massif, followed by     
   
   

Experimental evidence for diamond-facies metamorphism in the Dora-Maira massif

The peak metamorphic conditions of subducted continental crust in the Dora-Maira massif (Western Alps) have been revised by combining experimental results in the KCMASH system with petrologic information from whiteschists. Textural observations in whiteschists suggest that the peak metamorphic assemblage garnet+phengite+kyanite+coesite±talc originates from the reaction kyanite+talc↔garnet+coesite+liquid. In the experimentally determined petrogenetic grid, this reaction occurs above 45 kbar at 730 °C. At lower pressures, talc reacts either to orthopyroxene and coesite or, together with phengite, to biotite, coesite and kyanite. The liberated liquid contains probably similar amounts of H₂O and dissolved granitic components. The composition of the liquid in the whiteschists at peak metamorphic conditions, a major unknown in earlier studies, was probably very similar to the liquid composition produced in the experiments. Therefore, the experimentally determined petrogenetic grid represents a good model for the estimation of the peak metamorphic conditions in whiteschists. Experimentally determined Si-isopleths for phengite further constrain peak pressures to 43 kbar for the measured Si=3.60 of phengite in the natural whiteschists. All these data provide evidence that the whiteschists reached diamond-facies conditions.

The fluid-absent equilibrium 4 kyanite+3 CELADONITE=4 coesite+3 muscovite+pyrope has been calibrated on the basis of garnet and phengite compositions in the experiments and serves as a geothermobarometer for ultra-high-pressure (UHP) metapelites. For graphite-bearing metapelites and kyanite–phengite eclogites, forming the country rocks of the whiteschists, peak metamorphic pressures of about 44±3 kbar were calculated from this barometer for temperatures of 750 °C estimated from garnet–phengite thermometry. Therefore, the whole ultra-high-pressure unit of the Dora-Maira massif most likely experienced peak metamorphic conditions in the diamond stability field. While graphite is common in the metapelites, diamond has not been found so far. The absence of metamorphic microdiamonds might be explained by the low temperature of metamorphism, the absence of a free fluid phase in the metapelites and a short residence time in diamond-facies conditions resulting in kinetic problems in the conversion of graphite to diamond.     

中、新生代太平洋陆缘带的构造格局和构造转换

亚洲东部大陆边缘和北美西部大陆边缘同处于环太平洋构造带，但具有不同的构造属性。从晚白垩世到新生代，前者以构造扩张为背景，由此引起陆缘裂解，陆块漂移以及岛弧、边缘海的形成；后者以构造收缩为基础，导致陆缘增生、陆块拼贴和陆缘造山带的出现。然而，从晚侏罗世到早白垩世，亚洲东部是以构造封闭型的陆缘带为特点，北美西部则主要表现为开放型的陆缘带。构造扩张和构造收缩是环太平洋陆缘带构造环境的两种基本型式，它们在空间上呈有规律的对峙分布，在时间上成有节奏的交替转换。     

Contribution of magmatism,partial melting buffering and localized crustal thinning on the late Variscan thermal structure of the Agly massif (French Pyrenees)

Low pressure-high temperature (LPHT) metamorphism, with geothermal gradients in the order of 50–100°C/km, is a common feature of the late evolution of collisional orogens. These abnormal thermal conditions may be the results of complex interactions between magmatism, metamorphism and deformation. The Agly massif, in the French Pyrenees, preserves the metamorphic footprints of the late Variscan thermal structure of an almost continuous section from the upper and middle continental crust. The upper crust is characterized by a very high geothermal gradient of ~55°C/km, evolving from greenschist to amphibolite facies, while the middle crust, exposed in a gneissic core, exhibits granulite facies conditions with a near isothermal geothermal gradient (<8°C/km) between 740 and 790°C. The abnormal and discontinuous crustal geothermal gradient, dated at c. 305 Ma on syn-granulitic monazite by LA-ICP-MS, is interpreted to be the result of magmatic intrusions at different structural levels in the crust: the Ansignan charnockite (c. 305 Ma) in the deepest part of the gneissic core, the Tournefort granodiorite (c. 308 Ma) at the interface between the gneissic core and the upper crust and the Saint-Arnac granite (c. 304 Ma) in the upper section of the massif. The heat input from these magmas combined with the thermal buffering effect of the biotite dehydration-melting reaction resulted in the near isothermal geothermal gradient in the gneissic core (melt-enhanced geotherm). The higher geothermal gradient (>50°C/km) in the upper crust is only due to conduction between the hot middle crust and the Earth's surface. The estimated maximum finite pressure range suggests that ~10 to 12 km of crust are exposed in the Agly massif while the present-day thickness does not exceed 5–6 km. This pressure/depth gap is consistent with the presence of several normal mylonitic shear zones that could have contributed to the subtraction of ~5 km of the rock pile. Monazite U–Th–Pb ages carried out on monazite overgrowths from a highly mylonitized sample suggest that this vertical thinning of the massif occurred at c. 296–300 Ma. This later Variscan extension might have slightly perturbed the 305 Ma geothermal gradient, resulting in an apparent higher conductive geothermal gradient in the upper crust. Although the Agly massif has been affected by Cretaceous extension and Eocene Alpine compression, we suggest that most of the present-day thickness of the column rock was acquired by the end of the Palaeozoic.     

大陆俯冲隧道板片-地幔楔界面反向流体交代作用:西阿尔卑斯造山带超高压变质白片岩的地球化学证据

前人对深俯冲板片释放熔/流体交代地幔楔形成弧岩浆源区的过程和机制已得到充分认识,然而对地幔楔岩石能否脱水交代深俯冲地壳并不清楚.在对欧洲西阿尔卑斯造山带Dora-Maira地体白片岩的地球化学研究中,首次发现地幔楔交代岩能够脱水反向交代深俯冲地壳岩石,从而极大影响俯冲地壳的地球化学组成.结合白片岩和围岩的全岩地球化学特征以及锆石学结果,查明了白片岩的原岩为S型花岗岩,澄清了关于Dora-Maira白片岩原岩属性的长期争议.在此基础上,发现白片岩中变质锆石相对残留岩浆锆石δ18O值显著降低,指示原岩形成后受到低δ18O变质流体的交代作用.白片岩具有高温岩石中最高的δ26Mg值达0.75‰,显著高于围岩变花岗岩,指示交代流体具有重Mg同位素组成.基于地球主要岩石储库的Mg同位素组成,推测交代流体来自俯冲隧道中富滑石地幔楔蛇纹岩在弧下深度的脱水分解,而这些地幔楔蛇纹岩是新特提斯洋壳在弧前深度变质脱水产生的流体与地幔楔浅部橄榄岩反应形成.这些结果不仅提供了利用Mg-O同位素示踪俯冲隧道中流体来源的新思路,也提供了地幔楔蛇纹岩来源流体反向交代深俯冲地壳岩石的首个典型实例.这种反向交代不仅极大改变了深俯冲地壳的地球化学组成,而且对弧岩浆岩重Mg同位素成因具有重要意义.      

华中大别山高压变质地体的形成和差异岩石隆升－剥露：来自火成岩的证据

根据花岗岩类资料，分析了大别造山带自古生代以来的岩石隆升－剥露历史。认为北淮阳地块、大别地块西段及大悟地块的岩石隆升－剥露主要发生于侏罗纪之前，而大别地块东段在白垩纪之后还发生了强烈岩石隆升－剥露．本文指出，含超高压变质岩的大别地块东段自海西期以来的岩石隆升－剥露幅度达２０ｋｍ．这一深度的负荷压力与大陆碰撞过程中超过压和高应变条件的结合，有可能形成柯石英榴辉岩，但高压变质地体中的金刚石，更可能是早期慢源岩浆挟带到地壳中的捕虏晶。     

Petrogenesis of calc-alkaline,shoshonitic and associated ultrapotassic Oligocene volcanic rocks from the Northwestern Alps,Italy

Along the Western Alps there is geological evidence of late-Alpine (Oligocene) magmatic activity which clearly postdates the Lepontine (Eocene-early Oligocene) metamorphism and related deformation of the Alpine nappe pile. This magmatic activity was notably delayed in relation to the most important convergent processes and may be related to buoyancy of lithosphere, tensional tectonics and thermal updoming subsequent to the collision between the Eurasian and African plates. The geochemical features of the rocks and the geophysical characteristics of the Alpine chain, suggest that: (a) shoshonitic and calcalkaline melts may have been generated by partial melting of metasomatized peridotitic material and subsequent fractional crystallization and crustal contamination; silicic andesites and latites, however, could have been also derived from metasomatized eclogite or deep continental crust material; (b) the ultrapotassic lamprophyres with high K, P, LREE, Th, Zr, U and high ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios were generated by partial melting of strongly metasomatized mantle; the varied Sr-isotopic ratios may partially also reflect additional radiogenic component from the continental crust following magma segregation from the source.     

Coesite and pure pyrope in high-grade blueschists of the Western Alps: a first record and some consequences

A pyrope-quartzite originally described by Vialon (1966) from the Dora Maira massif was resampled and reinvestigated. Garnet (up to 25 cm in size), phengite, kyanite, talc and rutile are in textural equilibrium in an undeformed matrix of polygonal quartz. The garnet is a pyrope-almandine solid solution with 90 to 98 mol % Mg end-member. It contains inclusions of coesite which has partially inverted to quartz, resulting in a typical radial cracking of the host garnet around the inclusions. Several lines of evidence show that coesite crystallised under nearly static pressure conditions and that the whole matrix has once been coesite. The formidable pressures of formation implied (≧28 kbar) are independently indicated by i) the coexistence of nearly pure pyrope with free silica and talc, ii) the coexistence of jadeite with kyanite, iii) the high Si content of phengite. Water activity must have been low. The stability of talc-phengite and the presence of rare glaucophane inclusions in pyrope point to low formation temperatures (about 700 °C) and to a probable Alpine age for the assemblage. This is evidence that low temperature gradients, how essentially transient they are, may nevertheless persist to considerable depths. Moreover, the upper crustal (evaporite-related?) origin of the quartzite and its interbedding within a continental unit implies that continental crust may also be subducted to depths of 90 km or more. The return back to the surface is problematic; the retrograde assemblages observed show that it must be tectonic. If the rocks remain at depth, new perspectives open for the genesis of intermediate to acidic magmas. Eventually, the role of continental crust in geodynamics may have to be reconsidered.     

Balanced cross-sections and their implications for the deep structure of the northwest Alps

The Mont Blanc massif is one of a chain of basement culminations which crop out along the external French Alps. Its southwestern margin is interpreted as being a major thrust belt which propagated in a piggy-back sequence towards the foreland. These imbricates have developed in the footwall of the high-level Valais thrust. The depth to the floor thrust and shortening within imbricates above this thrust are estimated by a series of partially balanced cross-sections drawn between the ‘synclinal median’ and the Valais thrust. These sections restore to a pre-thrust length of at least 50 km, probably exceeding 100 km, above a floor thrust never deeper than 1 km below the sub-Triassic unconformity. All this thrust displacement is transferred via a series of lateral branch lines onto the Mont Blanc thrust in the Chamonix area. A corollary of this is that the Aiguilles Rouges and the main part of the Mont Blanc massif were separated by probably as much as 100 km prior to Alpine thrusting. Such large shortening estimates imply a hitherto unsuspected Dauphinois stratigraphic consistency in both thickness and lithology.To achieve a balance a restored crustal cross-section must show an equal length of both lower and upper crust. Thus a high-level basal detachment which floors large thrust displacements must overlie a long, undeformed lower crustal wedge. A restored section 100 km long requires such a lower crustal wedge to exist beneath the entire Alpine internal zones. Perrier & Vialon's crustal velocity profile through the western Alps is reinterpreted in these terms. The Ivrea body is considered to be a portion of an external lower crustal wedge which has been uplifted by thrusts after most of the displacement on the external thrust belt.     

Main features of crustal structure in western and southern Europe based on data of explosion seismology

During the past two decades deep seismic sounding measurements have been carried out in western and southern Europe, mainly using the refraction method. These investigations were performed partly on a national basis but as well within international cooperative programs under the sponsorship of the European Seismological Commission.

In France, a systematic study has been executed to determine the main feature of deep structures under the Central Massif and the Paris Basin. In the Forez and Margeride regions, the sub-crustal velocity is lower (7.2 km/sec) than the normal value (8.0 km/sec) observed in the adjacent areas.

The central and southern part of Western Germany is covered by an extensive network of refraction profiles. The crustal thickness varies, similarly to France, from 25 to 35 km. A great amount of deep reflection data was obtained by commercial and special reflection work. The crust beneath the Rhinegraben area shows the typical “rift system” structure with a low subcrustal velocity (7.4–7.7 km/sec).

Very intensive refraction work has been carried out in the Alpine area. The maximum crustal thickness found near the axis of the negative gravity anomaly is about 55–60 km. Furthermore, a clear lowvelocity layer at a depth between 10 and 30 km has been detected. A key position with regard to the geotectonic structure of the Alps is held by the zone of Ivrea characterized by a pronounced gravity high. From the refraction work it may be concluded that there material of the lower crust and the upper mantle (7.2–7.5 km/sec) is overlying a layer of extremely low velocity (5.0 km/sec) which is interpreted as sialic crust.

Three years ago, a systematic study of crustal structure of the Italian peninsula has been started. Reversed profiles were observed on Sicily, in Calabria, and in Puglia. On Sicily, the structure is very complicated; the crust of the western part looks like a transition between a continental and oceanic structure whereas the eastern side shows a continental-type crust. In Calabria and Puglia, the crustal thickness has been determined to be about 25–35 km.     

Late evolution of the southern European Variscan belt: Exhumation of the lower crust in a context of oblique convergence

The south-eastern part of the European Variscan belt forms a zone composed of several crystalline segments: the External Crystalline Massifs of the western Alps, the Maures-Tanneron massif, also Corsica and Sardinia, which are mutually displaced due to the Alpine deformation of the European Paleozoic lithosphere. All these crystalline fragments record similar structural, metamorphic, geochronological and magmatic histories during Paleozoic times. In particular, the Late Carboniferous period (～320–300 Ma) is characterized by crustal-scale folding associated with strike-slip faulting and intracontinental basin formation. In this transpressive context, dome structures exhume partially-molten crust in convergent setting, which is in contradiction with generally accepted models of late orogenic collapse of the Variscan belt. It is suggested that this particular transpressive–obliquely convergent template, exemplified by tectonometamorphic evolution of the Maures-Tanneron massif, is valid for the whole eastern European Variscan margin.     

Rhodope and Vardar: the metamorphic and the olistostromic paired belts related to the Cretaceous subduction under Europe

Abstract

The Rhodope massif of Bulgaria and Greece is a complex of Mesozoic synmetamorphic nappes stacked in an Alpine active margin environment. A new analysis of the Triassic to Eocene history of the Vardar suture zone m Greece discloses its Cretaceous setting as a subduction trench. We present a geological traverse that takes into account these new observatons and runs from the Hellenides to the Balkans, i.e. from he African to the Eurasian sides of the Tethys ocean, respectively. The present review first defines the revisited limits of the Rhodope metamorphic complex. In particular, the lower part of the Serbo- Macedonian massif is an extension of the Rhodope units west of the Struma river. Its upper part is separated as the Frolosh greenschist unit, which underlies tectonic slivers of Carpathc-Balkanic type. Several greenschist units which locally yield Mesozoic fossils, follow the outer limits of the Rhodope. Their former attribution to a stratigraphic cover of the Rhodope has been proven false. They are divided into roof greenschists, which partly represent an extension of the Strandza Jurassic black shales basin, and western greenschists, which mostly derive from the Vardar Cretaceous olistostromic assemblage. The Rhodope complex of synmetamorphic nappes includes Continental Units and Mixed Units. The Continental Units comprise quartzo-feld-spathic gneisses in addition to thick marble layers. The Mixed Units comprise meta-ophiolites as large bodies or small knockers. They are imbricated, forming an open dome whose lower, Continental Unit constitutes the Drama window. The uppermost Mixed Unit is overlain by remnants of the European plate. The present-day structure results from combined large-scale thrust and exhumation tectonics. Regional inversions of synmetamorphic sense-of-shear indicate that intermediate parts of the wedge moved upward and forward with respect to both the lower and upper plates. A kinematic model is based on buoyancy-driven decoupling at depth between subducted continental crust and the subducting lithosphere. Continuing convergence allows coeval underthrusting of continental crust at the footwall, decoupling at depth, and upward-forward expulsion of a low-density metamorphic wedge above. The continental crust input and its upward return may have lasted for at least the whole of the Early Cretaceous, as indicated by isotopic ages and the deformation history of the upper plate. A Late Eocene marine transgression divides the ensuing structural and thermal evolution into a follow-up uplift stage and a renewed uplift stage. Revision of the limits of the Vardar belt in Greece first resulted in separating the Paikon mountain as a tectonic window below the Vardar nappes. It belongs to the western, Hellenic foreland into which a system of thrust developed downward between 60 and 40 Ma. The eastern limit is a dextral strike-slip fault zone that developed greenschist facies foliations locally dated at 50–40 Ma. Revision of the lithological components discloses the preponderance of Cretaceous volcano-detritic and olistostromic sequences that include metamorphite blocks of Rhodope origin. Rock units that belong to the Vardar proper (ophiolites, Triassic and Jurassic radiolarites, remnants of an eastern Triassic passive margin) attest for a purely oceanic basin. The Guevgueli arc documents the Jurassic change of the eastern Triassic passive margin into an active one. This arc magmatic activity ended in the Late Jurassic and plate convergence was transferred farther northeast to the subduction boundary along which the Rhodope metamorphic complex formed. We interpret the Rhodope and the Vardar as paired elements of a Cretaceous accretionary wedge. They document the tectonic process that exhumed metamorphic material from under the upper plate, and the tectonic-sedimentary process that fed the trench on the lower plate. The history of the Rhodope-Vardar pair is placed in the light of the history of the Tethys ocean between Africa and Europe. The Cretaceous subduction then appears as the forerunner of the present Hellenic subduction, accounting for several shifts at the expense of the lower plate. The Late Eocene shift, at the closure of the Pindos basin, is coeval with the initiation of new uplift and magmatism in the Rhodope, which probably document the final release of the low-density, continental root of the Rhodope from subduction drag.     

对辽东古元古代地质若干问题的讨论

新的区调成果证实上世纪70年代在辽东建立的古元古代辽河群层序以及辽河群存在南北方向相变的认识是正确的。辽河群已全线过鸭绿江分布在狼林地块各处。狼林群的大部分相当于辽河群。辽河群原始沉积盆地主体呈东西向狭带状，它以太古宙陆壳为基底发育双峰式火山岩，构造属性为大陆裂谷，个别中心部分曾发生块体的有限分离而出现洋壳。笔者还对古盆地南、北太古宙陆块间地质差异的原因作了讨论。     

Coupling of oceanic and continental crust during Eocene eclogite-facies metamorphism: evidence from the Monte Rosa nappe,western Alps

High precision U–Pb geochronology of rutile from quartz–carbonate–white mica–rutile veins that are hosted within eclogite and schist of the Monte Rosa nappe, western Alps, Italy, indicate that the Monte Rosa nappe was at eclogite-facies metamorphic conditions at 42.6 ± 0.6 Ma. The sample area [Indren glacier, Furgg zone; Dal Piaz (2001) Geology of the Monte Rosa massif: historical review and personal comments. SMPM] consists of eclogite boudins that are exposed inside a south-plunging overturned synform within micaceous schist. Associated with the eclogite and schist are quartz–carbonate–white mica–rutile veins that formed in tension cracks in the eclogite and along the contact between eclogite and surrounding schist. Intrusion of the veins at about 42.6 Ma occurred at eclogite-facies metamorphic conditions (480–570°C, >1.3–1.4 GPa) based on textural relations, oxygen isotope thermometry, and geothermobarometry. The timing of eclogite-facies metamorphism in the Monte Rosa nappe determined in this study is identical to that of the Gran Paradiso nappe [Meffan-Main et al. (2004) J Metamorphic Geol 22:261–281], confirming that these two units have shared the same Alpine metamorphic history. Furthermore, the Gran Paradiso and Monte Rosa nappes underwent eclogite-facies metamorphism within the same time interval as the structurally overlying Zermatt-Saas ophiolite [∼50–40 Ma; e.g., Amato et al. (1999) Earth Planet Sci Lett 171:425–438; Mayer et al. (1999) Eur Union Geosci 10:809 (abstract); Lapen et al. (2003) Earth Planet Sci Lett 215:57–72]. The nearly identical P–T–t histories of the Gran Paradiso, Monte Rosa, and Zermatt-Saas units suggest that these units shared a common Alpine tectonic and metamorphic history. The close spatial and temporal associations between high pressure (HP) ophiolite and continental crust during Alpine orogeny indicates that the HP internal basement nappes in the western Alps may have played a key role in exhumation and preservation of the ophiolitic rocks through buoyancy-driven uplift. Coupling of oceanic and continental crust may therefore be critical in preventing permanent loss of oceanic crust to the mantle.     

Mechanism of continental crust subsidence in the Alpine Belt

Formation of deep basins on continental crust in fold belts is often explained by stretching. This mechanism inevitably produces large deformations in the upper crust. No deformations typical of significant stretching were revealed in the predominant part of deep basins on continental crust in the Alpine Belt. This means that these basins were not produced by stretching. Most basins were formed during a short period of time of a few million years. The short duration of the subsidences eliminates thermal relaxation as the mechanism. The space and time relationships between the subsidence and orogeny and the profile of the basin floor exclude thrust loading as a cause of formation for practically all large basins. Gabbro to eclogite transformation is suggested as a mechanism of rapid subsidence. This occurs under the upwelling of hydrous asthenosphere at moderate temperature to the base of the crust. Eclogite sinking into the mantle results in a strong attenuation of the crust and lithosphere, which permits intense subsequent folding. The major part of deep basins in continental crust that formed by rapid subsidence was intensely shortened in the Alpine Belt. Significant crustal shortening did not spread over the cratonic lithosphere.     

柴北缘构造带深部岩石的LA-ICP-MS锆石U-Pb年龄及微量元素研究:对全吉地块基底演化的启示

通过LA-ICP-MS方法对柴北缘全吉地块基底的斜长角闪岩和花岗闪长岩进行了锆石U-Pb年代学及锆石微区微量元素的研究。斜长角闪岩中的岩浆锆石上交点年龄为2 396±26 Ma,代表了锆石结晶的年龄,下交点为905±140 Ma,代表了锆石发生铅丢失事件的年龄。其岩浆锆石具有U/Yb较高(0.1~1),Hf值较低(10 000×10~(-6)),U值较低(150×10~(-6))的特点,显示其岩浆源区与富集地幔密切相关。在锆石微量元素判别图解中数据主要落在陆弧区和洋岛区,指示其形成的构造环境为弧后盆地。花岗闪长岩中岩浆锆石的加权平均年龄为484±21 Ma,岩浆锆石具有U/Yb较高(1)和U值较高(平均值为640×10~(-6))的特点,显示岩浆源区为典型陆壳。锆石微量元素判别图解显示其形成于陆弧。研究结果表明,全吉地块基底除前寒武纪岩石外,还包含早古生代的岩石组合。全吉地块基底内部岩石组合与形成时代的复杂性,与全吉地块经历的多次洋壳俯冲、陆陆碰撞密切相关。     

Geochemistry of the Cornubian tin province

The exposed crust of the Cornubian massif in S.W. England has been systematically sampled, and the rocks analysed for a wide range of major and trace elements. Geochemically this region is highly anomalous, with three elements (boron, lithium, tin) occurring at levels several times higher than the average for other parts of the continental crust. The greatest degree of enrichment is found in the rocks of the Cornubian granite batholith, but it is also present in rocks pre-dating the formation of the batholith. The mineral deposits of Cornubia derive their trace elements from different sources: B and Sn from the granite, and Cu and S from the country rocks.     

Sm-Nd Isotope Tracer Study of UHP Metamorphic Rocks: Implications for Continental Subduction and Collisional Tectonics

Sm-Nd isotope tracer techniques are powerful tools in identification of the protolith nature of UHP and HP rocks and can be used to constrain modeling of tectonic processes of continental collision. UHP rocks may have diverse origins, and not all of them carry the same significance for subduction of continental blocks. In this paper, Sm-Nd isotopic data are compiled for UHP and HP rocks, mostly represented by eclogites and garnet peridotites, from the Alpine, Hercynian (Variscan), and Caledonian belts of western Europe; the Pan-African belts of northern Africa; and the Ross belt of Antarctica. These data then are compared with the isotopic characteristics of the UHP rocks from the Dabie orogen of central China. Except for the coesite-bearing quartzitic metasediments of Dora-Maira (Western Alps), which are clearly of continental origin, all HP and UHP rocks (eclogites and ultramafic rocks) from the Alpine, Hercynian, and Pan-African belts have oceanic affinities with the characteristic positive ε_Nd(T) values (= metamorphic initial ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios). They represent segments of oceanic lithosphere that were subducted, underwent eclogite-facies metamorphism, and later were tectonically transported into orogenic zones during continental collisions. By contrast, the majority of UHP rocks from the European Caledonide and the Dabie orogen have negative ε_ND(T) values, indicating continental affinity. This suggests that these mafic and ultramafic rocks have had a long crustal residence time and that their UHP metamorphism is indicative of subduction of ancient and cold continental blocks, as represented by some Precambrian gneiss terranes containing mafic components including greenschists, amphibolites, or basic granulites.

In the Dabie orogen, none of the UHP eclogites analyzed thus far have shown oceanic affinity; thus they do not represent subducted Tethys Ocean crust. The preservation of ultrahigh ε_ND(0) values (+170 to +260) in eclogites of very low Nd concentrations (average 0.5 ppm) from the Weihai region and of the extraordinarily low δ¹⁸O in many eclogites and gneisses, the general absence of syntectonic granites in the Dabie Shan, and the available age data obtained by different techniques all point to a rapid rate of exhumation and the absence of a pervasive aqueous fluid phase during the entire process of subduction and exhumation of the Dabie UHP terrane.     

Earthquakes and strength in the laminated lower crust —Can they be explained by the “corset model”?

We present a model that may explain deep crustal earthquakes observed, in particular, in several areas of highly reflective (laminated) lower continental crust. We combine observations from earthquake seismology, crustal reflection seismics and tectonic-rheological concepts. The study concentrates on parts of the northern Alpine foreland where many earthquakes occur inside the laminated lower crust, which is generally considered to be warm and weak. Thin mafic/ultramafic, sill-like intrusions and invisible dykes are assumed to form a corset-like network with high strength. This model can explain the observed strong and multiple reflections and the occurrence of rupture inside a stable structure within a weak lower crust. Tectonic stress transfer (from the Alpine collision zone or/and the Upper Rhine Graben) and its release may follow classical friction concepts. In addition, the heterogeneity of the laminated lower crust may also favour various viscous instabilities.