Role of the subducted slab,mantle wedge and continental crust in the generation of adakites from the Andean Austral Volcanic Zone

 All six Holocene volcanic centers of the Andean Austral Volcanic Zone (AVZ; 49–54°S) have erupted exclusively adakitic andesites and dacites characterized by low Yb and Y concentrations and high Sr/Y ratios, suggesting a source with residual garnet, amphibole and pyroxene, but little or no olivine and plagioclase. Melting of mafic lower crust may be the source for adakites in some arcs, but such a source is inconsistent with the high Mg# of AVZ adakites. Also, the AVZ occurs in a region of relatively thin crust (<35 km) within which plagioclase rather than garnet is stable. The source for AVZ adakites is more likely to be subducted oceanic basalt, recrystallized to garnet-amphibolite or eclogite. Geothermal models indicate that partial melting of the subducted oceanic crust is probable below the Austral Andes due to the slow subduction rate (2 cm/year) and the young age (<24 Ma) of the subducted oceanic lithosphere. Geochemical models for AVZ adakites are also consistent with a large material contribution from subducted oceanic crust (35–90% slab-derived mass), including sediment (up to 4% sediment-derived mass, representing approximately 15% of all sediment subducted). Variable isotopic and trace-element ratios observed for AVZ adakites, which span the range reported for adakites world-wide, require multistage models involving melting of different proportions of subducted basalt and sediment, as well as an important material contribution from both the overlying mantle wedge (10–50% mass contribution) and continental crust (0–30% mass contribution). Andesites from Cook Island volcano, located in the southernmost AVZ (54°S) where subduction is more oblique, have MORB-like Sr, Nd, Pb and O isotopic composition and trace-element ratios. These can be modeled by small degrees (2–4%) of partial melting of eclogitic MORB, yielding a tonalitic parent (intermediate SiO₂, CaO/Na₂O>1), followed by limited interaction of this melt with the overlying mantle (≥90% MORB melt, ≤10% mantle), but only very little (≤1%) or no participation of either subducted sediment or crust. In contrast, models for the magmatic evolution of Burney (52°S), Reclus (51°S) and northernmost AVZ (49–50°S) andesites and dacites require melting of a mixture of MORB and subducted sediment, followed by interaction of this melt not only with the overlying mantle, but the crust as well. Crustal assimilation and fractional crystallization (AFC) processes and the mass contribution from the crust become more significant northwards in the AVZ as the angle of convergence becomes more orthogonal. Received: 1 March 1995 / Accepted: 13 September 1995     

Phase relationships in the system KAlSiO4-Mg2SiO4-SiO2-H2O as a model for hybridization between hydrous siliceous melts and peridotite

The system KAlSiO₄-Mg₂SiO₄-SiO₂-H₂O includes model representatives of (1) hydrous siliceous magma from subducted oceanic crust — the eutectic liquid in KAlSi₃O₈-SiO₂-H₂O, and (2) the overlying mantle peridotite — the assemblage forsterite+enstatite (Fo+En). In a series of partly schematic isobaric isothermal sections, the products of hybridization between the model materials at pressures between 20 and 30 kbar have been determined. The liquid dissolves peridotite components with little change in composition. Hybridization is not a simple mixing process, because of the incongruent melting of peridotitic assemblages with phlogopite (Ph). Hybridization causes solidification of the liquid, with products a sequence of three mineral assemblages: Ph, Ph+quartz (Qz), and Ph+En. The products represent an absolute geochemical separation and local concentration of all potassium from the liquid. Hybridization is accompanied by H₂O-saturation of melts, and evolution of aqueous fluid. Although there are significant differences between the melt composition and that of the magma rising from subducted oceanic slab, and between Fo+En and the mantle rock, extrapolation of the results suggests that the conclusions can probably be extended to mantle conditions with sodium in the melt, and jadeitic clinopyroxene included in the hybrid products.     

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

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

The system granite-peridotite-H2O at 30 kbar,with applications to hybridization in subduction zone magmatism

Experiments with mixtures of granite, peridotite and H₂O at 30 kbar were designed as a first step to test the hypothesis that the calc-alkaline igneous rocks of subduction zones are formed by differentiation of magmas derived by partial melting of hybrid rocks generated in the mantle wedge, by reaction between hydrous siliceous magma rising from subducted oceanic crust, and the overlying mantle peridotite. Experiments were conducted in gold capsules in half-inch diameter piston-cylinder apparatus. Results are presented in a 900° C isotherm, and in a projection of vapor-present phase fields onto T-granite-peridotite. Isobaric solution of peridotite in hydrous, H₂O-undersaturated granite liquid at 900° C causes only small changes in liquid composition, followed by precipitation of orthopyroxene until about half of the liquid has solidified; then orthopyroxene is joined by jadeitic clinopyroxene, garnet, and phlogopite. Phlogopite-garnet-websterite continues to be precipitated, with evolution of aqueous vapor, until all of the liquid is used up. The product of hybridization is a pyroxenite without olivine. The products of partial melting of this material would differ from products derived from peridotite because there is no olivine control, and the clinopyroxenes contain up to 7% Na₂O, compared with less than 1% Na₂O in peridotite clinopyroxenes. The reaction products are directly analogous to those in the model system KAlSiO₄-Mg₂SiO₄-SiO₂-H₂O, where, with decreasing SiO₂ in the hydrous siliceous liquid, the field for phlogopite expands, and phlogopite instead of orthopyroxene becomes the primary mineral. If this occurs with less siliceous magmas from the subducted oceanic crust, there is a prospect for separation of discrete bodies of phlogopite-rock as well as phlogopite-garnet-websterite. We need to know the products of hybridization, and the products of partial melting of the hybrid rocks through a range of conditions.     

Incompatible element and isotopic evidence for tectonic control of source mixing and melt extraction along the Central American arc

The Sr and Nd isotopic ratios of Central American volcanics can be described by the mixing of four components, marine sediment from DSDP Site 495, MORB-source mantle (DM), EMORB-source mantle (EM), and continental crust. Most of the isotopic data define a trend between EM and a modified mantle (MM) formed as a mixture of DM and less than 0.5% marine sediment, or fluid derived there from. The MM to EM trend is equally apparent in the incompatible-element data and is most clearly seen in a Ba/La versus La/Yb plot. A hyperbolic trend connects high Ba/La and low La/Yb at the MM end of the trend to low Ba/La and high La/Yb at the EM end. Smooth regional variations in incompatible-element and isotopic ratios correlate with the dip of the subducted slab beneath the volcanic front and the volume of lava erupted during the last 100,000 years (volcanic flux). Steep dip and low flux characterize the MM end-member and shallow dip and high flux characterize the EM end-member. The simplest model to explain the linked tectonic and geochemical data involves melting in the wedge by two distinct mechanisms, followed by mixing between the two magmas. In one case, EM magma is generated by decompression of EM plus DM asthenosphere, which is drawn in and up toward the wedge corner. EM mantle is preferentially melted to small degrees because of the presence of low melting components. The second melt is formed by release of fluid from the subducted slab beneath the volcanic front to form MM magma. Mixing between EM and MM magmas is controlled by subduction angle, which facilitates delivery of EM magma to the volcanic front at low-dip angles and impedes it at steep-dip angles.     

The Kostomuksha greenstone belt,NW Baltic Shield: remnant of a late Archaean oceanic plateau?

The Kostomuksha greenstone belt consists of two lithotectonic terranes, one mafic igneous and the other sedimentary, separated by a major shear zone. The former contains submarine 2.8 Gyr old komatiite-basalt lavas and volcaniclastic lithologies with trace element and isotopic compositions resembling those of recent oceanic flood basalts [?Nd(T) =+ 2,8, μ.₁= 8.73 (Nb/Th)N= 1.5–2.1 (Nb/La)N= 1.0–1.5]. We suggest that the mafic terrane is a remnant of the upper crustal part of an Archaean oceanic plateau derived from partial melting of a mantle plume head. When the plateau reached the continental margin, it collided with the sedimentary terrane but was too buoyant to subduct. As a result, the volcanic section of the plateau was imbricated and obducted thus becoming a new piece of continental crust. The deeper zones were subducted and disappeared from the geological record.     

地壳深俯冲与富钾火山岩成因

富钾火山岩是一类兼具壳幔双重地球化学特征的特殊岩石组合 ,它们不可能由亏损或原始地幔所派生 ,成岩过程中必须有地壳物质的参与 ,将地壳物质引入富钾火山岩成岩过程的主要动力机制即是深俯冲作用。洋壳和陆壳均可以通过俯冲进入地幔 ,俯冲地壳物质析出流体对地幔岩石的交代作用是导致富钾火山岩具特殊地球化学特征的主要原因。根据对大别—苏鲁造山带南北两侧晚中生代富钾火山岩的实例研究 ,表明该区火山岩的形成均受到了俯冲洋壳析出流体的交代作用 ,但造山带北侧富钾火山岩的形成还叠加了俯冲的扬子陆壳析出流体的交代作用 ,是多次富集事件综合作用的结果。文中还对富钾火山岩成因研究中值得进一步深入探索的问题进行了讨论。     

我国东北小古里河-科洛-五大连池-二克山火山带钾质矿物成因及地质意义

东北黑龙江小古里河-科洛-五大连池-二克山火山岩带是我国近代保存最好的火山群之一,此带火山岩的岩石化学特点全都强碱富钾,K₂O/Na₂O>1.2,属于一套高钾过碱性火山岩。通过对东北钾质火山岩及金云母橄榄岩地幔捕虏体中钾质矿物金云母、白榴石的成分、结晶环境与岩浆成分及来源关系的研究,认为在岩石圈伸展构造背景下,地幔金云母橄榄岩的低度部分熔融形成钾质岩浆,钾质岩浆上升到地壳浅部经历了白榴石的结晶作用。岩浆演化晚期,因钾质矿物大量晶出导致岩浆相对富钠而出现他形霞石和方钠石等填隙矿物。火山岩及地幔捕虏体中富挥发分矿物金云母、白榴石、磷灰石、霞石和方钠石还提供了钾质岩浆富含H₂O、F、Cl、P等挥发分的证据。     

鲁西青山组火山岩形成的构造背景及其成因探讨:主元素和微量元素证据

研究区内火山岩从基性—中性—中酸性都有出露，包括橄榄玄武岩、安山岩和英安岩，且都属于非碱性系列。通过对主元素和微量元素的研究，认为本区火山岩为滞后型弧(陆缘弧)火山作用的产物。源区由于存在大量的因俯冲作用进入地幔的陆壳物质以及流体的交代作用，从而出现富含金云母和不相容元素的交代富集型地幔源，并具有壳源的元素组成特征。火山岩的形成是富集地幔部分熔融的结果，但在成岩过程中可能存在单斜辉石、斜长石、橄榄石和Ti—Fe氧化物等矿物的分离结晶作用，以及橄榄石的堆晶作用。     

Tracing nitrogen in volcanic and geothermal volatiles from the Nicaraguan volcanic front

We report new chemical and isotopic data from 26 volcanic and geothermal gases, vapor condensates, and thermal water samples, collected along the Nicaraguan volcanic front. The samples were analyzed for chemical abundances and stable isotope compositions, with a focus on nitrogen abundances and isotope ratios. These data are used to evaluate samples for volatile contributions from magma, air, air-saturated water, and the crust. Samples devoid of crustal contamination (based upon He isotope composition) but slightly contaminated by air or air-saturated water are corrected using N₂/Ar ratios in order to obtain primary magmatic values, composed of contributions from upper mantle and subducted hemipelagic sediment on the down-going plate. Using a mantle endmember with δ¹⁵N = −5‰ and N₂/He = 100 and a subducted sediment component with δ¹⁵N = +7‰ and N₂/He = 10,500, the average sediment contribution to Nicaraguan volcanic and geothermal gases was determined to be 71%. Most of the gases were dominated by sediment-derived nitrogen, but gas from Volcán Mombacho, the southernmost sampling location, had a mantle signature (46% from subducted sediment, or 54% from the mantle) and an affinity with mantle-dominated gases discharging from Costa Rica localities to the south. High CO₂/N_{2 exc.} ratios (N_{2 exc.} is the N₂ abundance corrected for contributions from air) in the south are similar to those in Costa Rica, and reflect the predominant mantle wedge input, whereas low ratios in the north indicate contribution by altered oceanic crust and/or preferential release of nitrogen over carbon from the subducting slab. Sediment-derived nitrogen fluxes at the Nicaraguan volcanic front, estimated by three methods, are 7.8 × 10⁸ mol N/a from ³He flux, 6.9 × 10⁸ mol/a from SO₂ flux, and 2.1 × 10⁸ and 1.3 × 10⁹ mol/a from CO₂ fluxes calculated from ³He and SO₂, respectively. These flux results are higher than previous estimates for Central America, reflecting the high sediment-derived volatile contribution and the high nitrogen content of geothermal and volcanic gases in Nicaragua. The fluxes are also similar to but higher than estimated hemipelagic nitrogen inputs at the trench, suggesting addition of N from altered oceanic basement is needed to satisfy these flux estimates. The similarity of the calculated input of N via the trench to our calculated outputs suggests that little or none of the subducted nitrogen is being recycled into the deeper mantle, and that it is, instead, returned to the surface via arc volcanism.     

Generation of Deccan Trap magmas

Deccan Trap magmas may have erupted through multiple centers, the most prominent of which may have been a shield volcano-like structure in the Western Ghats area. The lavas are predominantly tholeiitic; alkalic mafic lavas and carbonatites are rare. Radioisotope dating, magnetic chronology, and age constraints from paleontology indicate that although the eruption started some 68 Ma, the bulk of lavas erupted at around 65–66 Ma. Paleomagnetic constraints indicate an uncertainty of ± 500,000 years for peak volcanic activity at 65 m.y. in the type section of the Western Ghats. Maximum magma residence times were calculated in this study based on growth rates of “giant plagioclase” crystals in lavas that marked the end phase of volcanic activity of different magma chambers. These calculations suggest that the > 1.7 km thick Western Ghats section might have erupted within a much shorter time interval of ∼ 55,000 years, implying phenomenal eruption rates that are orders of magnitude larger than any present-day eruption rate from any tectonic environment. Other significant observations/conclusions are as follows: (1) Deccan lavas can be grouped into stratigraphic subdivisions based on their geochemistry; (2) While some formations are relatively uncontaminated others are strongly contaminated by the continental crust; (3) Deccan magmas were produced by 15–30% melting of a Fe-rich lherzolitic source at ∼ 3–2 GPa; (4) Parent magmas of the relatively uncontaminated Ambenali formation had a primitive composition with 16%MgO, 47%SiO₂; (5) Deccan magmas were generated much deeper and by significantly more melting than other continental flood basalt provinces; (6) The erupted Deccan tholeiitic lavas underwent fractionation and magma mixing at ∼ 0.2 GPa. The composition and origin of the crust and crust/mantle boundary beneath the Deccan are discussed with respect to the influence of Deccan magmatic episode.     

中国东部新生代玄武岩记录古太平洋俯冲带壳幔相互作用

大陆玄武岩通常具有与洋岛玄武岩相似的地球化学成分,其中含有显著的壳源组分.对于洋岛玄武岩来说,虽然其中的壳源组分归咎于深俯冲大洋板片的再循环,但是对板片俯冲过程中的壳幔相互作用缺乏研究.对于大陆玄武岩来说,由于其形成与特定大洋板片在大陆边缘之下的俯冲有关,可以用来确定古大洋板片俯冲的地壳物质再循环.本文总结了我们对中国东部新生代玄武岩所进行的一系列地球化学研究,结果记录了古太平洋板片俯冲析出流体对地幔楔的化学交代作用.这些大陆玄武岩普遍具有与洋岛玄武岩类似的地球化学成分,在微量元素组成上表现为富集LILE和LREE、亏损HREE,但是不亏损HFSE的分布特点,在放射成因同位素组成上表现为亏损至弱富集的Sr-Nd同位素组成.在排除地壳混染效应之后,这些玄武岩的地球化学特征可以由其地幔源区中壳源组分的性质来解释.俯冲大洋地壳部分熔融产生的熔体提供了地幔源区中的壳源组分,其中包括洋壳镁铁质火成岩、海底沉积物和大陆下地壳三种组分.华北和华南新生代大陆玄武岩在Pb同位素组成上存在显著差异,反映它们地幔源区中的壳源组分有所区别.中国东部新生代玄武岩的地幔源区是古太平洋板片于中生代俯冲至亚欧大陆东部之下时,在>200 km的俯冲带深度发生壳幔相互作用的产物.在新生代期间,随着俯冲太平洋板片的回卷引起的中国东部大陆岩石圈拉张和软流圈地幔上涌,那些交代成因的地幔源区发生部分熔融,形成了现今所见的新生代玄武岩.      

Magmatic evolution of the South Shetland Islands,Antarctica, and implications for continental crust formation

Lavas from the South Shetland Islands volcanic arc (northern Antarctic Peninsula) have been investigated in order to determine the age, petrogenesis and compositional evolution of a long-lived volcanic arc constructed on 32-km-thick crust, a thickness comparable with average continental crust. New ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar ages for the volcanism range between 135 and 47 Ma and, together with published younger ages, confirm a broad geographical trend of decreasing ages for the volcanism from southwest to northeast. The migration pattern breaks down in Palaeogene time, with Eocene magmatism present on both Livingston and King George islands, which may be due to a change in both subduction direction and velocity after c. 60 Ma. The lavas range from tholeiitic to calc-alkaline, but there is no systematic change with age or geographic location. The compositions of lavas from the north-eastern islands indicate magma generation in a depleted mantle wedge with relatively low Sr and high Nd isotopic compositions and low U/Nb, Th/Nd and Ba/Nb ratios that was metasomatized by hydrous fluids from subducted basaltic oceanic crust. Lavas from the south-western islands show an additional sedimentary influence most likely due to fluid release from subducted sediments into the mantle wedge. Although magmatic activity in the South Shetland arc extended over c. 100 m.y., there is no evolution towards more enriched or evolved magmas with time. Few South Shetland arc lavas are sufficiently enriched with incompatible elements to provide a potential protolith for the generation of average continental crust. We conclude that even long-established subduction zones with magmatic systems founded on relatively thick crust do not necessarily form continental crustal building blocks. They probably represent only the juvenile stages of continental crust formation, and additional re-working, for example during subsequent arc-continental margin collision, is required before they can evolve into average continental crust.     

A general model for the intrusion and evolution of 'mantle' garnet peridotites in high-pressure and ultra-high-pressure metamorphic terranes

Garnet‐bearing peridotite lenses are minor but significant components of most metamorphic terranes characterized by high‐temperature eclogite facies assemblages. Most peridotite intrudes when slabs of continental crust are subducted deeply (60–120 km) into the mantle, usually by following oceanic lithosphere down an established subduction zone. Peridotite is transferred from the resulting mantle wedge into the crustal footwall through brittle and/or ductile mechanisms. These ‘mantle’ peridotites vary petrographically, chemically, isotopically, chronologically and thermobarometrically from orogen to orogen, within orogens and even within individual terranes. The variations reflect: (1) derivation from different mantle sources (oceanic or continental lithosphere, asthenosphere); (2) perturbations while the mantle wedges were above subducting oceanic lithosphere; and (3) changes within the host crustal slabs during intrusion, subduction and exhumation. Peridotite caught within mantle wedges above oceanic subduction zones will tend to recrystallize and be contaminated by fluids derived from the subducting oceanic crust. These ‘subduction zone peridotites’ intrude during the subsequent subduction of continental crust. Low‐pressure protoliths introduced at shallow (serpentinite, plagioclase peridotite) and intermediate (spinel peridotite) mantle depths (20–50 km) may be carried to deeper levels within the host slab and undergo high‐pressure metamorphism along with the enclosing rocks. If subducted deeply enough, the peridotites will develop garnet‐bearing assemblages that are isofacial with, and give the same recrystallization ages as, the eclogite facies country rocks. Peridotites introduced at deeper levels (50–120 km) may already contain garnet when they intrude and will not necessarily be isofacial or isochronous with the enclosing crustal rocks. Some garnet peridotites recrystallize from spinel peridotite precursors at very high temperatures (c. 1200 °C) and may derive ultimately from the asthenosphere. Other peridotites are from old (>1 Ga), cold (c. 850 °C), subcontinental mantle (‘relict peridotites’) and seem to require the development of major intra‐cratonic faults to effect their intrusion.     

北祁连山元古宙末－寒武纪主动大陆裂谷火山作用

北祁连山元古宙末－寒武纪大陆裂谷火山岩系为双峰式火山岩套，主要由基性与酸性火山岩组成。基性火山岩有磁性玄武岩与拉斑玄武岩两个岩浆系列，且富集ＬＲＥＥ与ＬＩＬ，其岩浆源区为与洋岛玄武岩源相似的富集地幔柱源。软流圈地幔柱上涌导致岩石圈地慢部分熔融，其熔体与地幔柱衍生熔浆混合，形成本区具有中等钕，锶同位素比值特点的基性岩浆。基性岩浆上侵至陆壳，引起下部陆壳深熔，产生长英质岩浆。地幔柱上隆促使大陆扩张，及至形成北祁连山元古宙末－寒武纪大陆裂谷。     

Petrogenesis and tectonic implications of ultrapotassic microgranitoid enclaves in Late Triassic arc granitoids,Qinling orogen,central China

The origin of microgranitoid enclaves in granitic plutons has long been debated (hybrid magma blobs vs. refractory restites or cognate fragments). This article presents detailed petrography, SHRIMP zircon U–Pb chronology, bulk-rock major and trace element analyses, and Sr–Nd isotope and in situ zircon Hf isotopic geochemistry for microgranitoid enclaves within two Late Triassic granitic plutons in the Qinling orogen. Zircon U–Pb dating shows that the enclaves formed during the Carnian (222.5 ± 2.1 to 220.7 ± 1.9 Ma) coeval with their host granitoids (220.0 ± 2.0 to 218.7 ± 2.4 Ma). Field and petrological observations (e.g. double enclaves, xenocrysts, acicular apatite, and poikilitic K-feldspar or quartz) suggest that the enclaves are globules of a mantle-derived more mafic magma that was injected into and mingled with the host magma. The enclaves are mainly ultrapotassic, distinct from the host granitoids that have high-K calc-alkaline bulk-rock compositions. Although the enclaves have closely similar bulk-rock Sr–Nd isotope [initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr?=?0.7046–0.7056, ?_Nd (T)?=?–0.3 to –5.0] and in situ zircon Hf isotope [?_Hf (T)?=?–1.5 to?+2.9] ratios as the granitoids [initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr?=?0.7042–0.7059, ?_Nd (T)?=?–0.6 to –6.3, ?_Hf (T)?=?–2.2 to?+1.6], chemical relationships including very different bulk-rock compositions at a given SiO₂ content lead us to interpret the isotopic similarities as reflecting similar but separate isotopic source rocks. Detailed elemental and isotopic data suggest that the enclaves and the host granitoids were emplaced in a continental arc environment coupled with northward subduction of the Palaeo-Tethyan oceanic crust. Partial melting of subducted sediments triggered by dehydration of the underlying igneous oceanic crust, with melts interacting with the overlying mantle wedge, formed high-K calc-alkaline granitic magmas, whereas partial melting of diapiric phlogopite-pyroxenites, solidified products of the same subducting sediment-derived melts, generated ultrapotassic magmas of the microgranitoid enclaves. Our new data further confirm that in the Late Triassic time the Qinling terrane was an active continental margin rather than a post-collisional regime, giving new insights into the tectonic evolution of this orogen.     

Pb and Sr isotopes in volcanic rocks from the Aleutian Islands and Pribilof Islands,Alaska

The Pb and Sr isotope ratios of Plio-Pleistocene volcanic rocks from the Aleutian volcanic arc are used as tracers of the lithospheric subduction process at the converging Pacific and Bering plates. Aleutian arc lavas do not have the same Pb isotopic compositions as volcanic rocks of the subducted Pacific ocean crust or the nearby Pribilof Islands, but appear to contain an ‘old continental crustal component’ with high ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ratio, as has been found in some other volcanic arcs.⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios in the Aleutian volcanic arc rocks average 0.70322, slightly higher than fresh volcanic rocks from normal ridge segments, but within the range of values from ‘Icelandic’ ridge segments, oceanic islands and the Pribolof Islands. The Pb and Sr isotopic compositions of Aleutian lavas show a positive correlation and the range of values does not change for volcanoes distributed along strike in the arc, even though the crustal type in the hanging wall of the Benioff zone changes from oceanic in the west to continental in the east. Since the basement of the continental arc segment is older than the basement of the oceanic segment, and probably has a different isotopic character, the constancy of isotopic ratios along the arc argues against contamination by wall rocks of the type exposed in the arc.A sufficient explanation for the isotopic data is the mixture of several per cent of continent-derived sediment with melt derived from the underthrust oceanic crust and overlying mantle. This small amount of contaminant is difficult to document by geophysical observations. Such a model implies extensive recycling of Ba, Pb, K and Rb through volcanism at convergent plate margins like the Aleutians.     

The role of subduction erosion in the generation of Andean and other convergent plate boundary arc magmas,the continental crust and mantle

Subduction erosion, which occurs at all convergent plate boundaries associated with magmatic arcs formed on crystalline forearc basement, is an important process for chemical recycling, responsible globally for the transport of ~1.7 Armstrong Units (1 AU = 1 km³/yr) of continental crust back into the mantle. Along the central Andean convergent plate margin, where there is very little terrigenous sediment being supplied to the trench as a result of the arid conditions, the occurrence of mantle-derived olivine basalts with distinctive crustal isotopic characteristics (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ≥ 0.7050; ε_Nd ≤ −2; ε_Hf ≤ +2) correlates spatially and/or temporally with regions and/or episodes of high rates of subduction erosion, and a strong case can be made for the formation of these basalts to be due to incorporation into the subarc mantle wedge of tectonically eroded and subducted forearc continental crust. In other convergent plate boundary magmatic arcs, such as the South Sandwich and Aleutian Islands intra-oceanic arcs and the Central American and Trans-Mexican continental margin volcanic arcs, similar correlations have been demonstrated between regions and/or episodes of relatively rapid subduction erosion and the genesis of mafic arc magmas containing enhanced proportions of tectonically eroded and subducted crustal components that are chemically distinct from pelagic and/or terrigenous trench sediments. It has also been suggested that larger amounts of melts derived from tectonically eroded and subducted continental crust, rising as diapirs of buoyant low density subduction mélanges, react with mantle peridotite to form pyroxenite metasomatites that than melt to form andesites. The process of subduction erosion and mantle source region contamination with crustal components, which is supported by both isotopic and U-Pb zircon age data implying a fast and efficient connectivity between subduction inputs and magmatic outputs, is a powerful alternative to intra-crustal assimilation in the generation of andesites, and it negates the need for large amounts of mafic cumulates to form within and then be delaminated from the lower crust, as required by the basalt-input model of continental crustal growth. However, overall, some significant amount of subducted crust and sediment is neither underplated below the forearc wedge nor incorporated into convergent plate boundary arc magmas, but instead transported deeper into the mantle where it plays a role in the formation of isotopically enriched mantle reservoirs. To ignore or underestimate the significance of the recycling of tectonically eroded and subducted continental crust in the genesis of convergent plate boundary arc magmas, including andesites, and for the evolution of both the continental crust and mantle, is to be on the wrong side of history in the understanding of these topics.     

Compositional recycling structure of an Archean super-plume: Nb–Th–U–LREE systematics of Archean komatiites and basalts revisited

The volcanic stage of the 2.7-Ga Abitibi greenstone belt, Canada, is dominated by bimodal arc magma series and komatiite-basalt sequences. The latter represents an aerially extensive oceanic plateau erupted from an anomalously hot super-plume. Komatiites define a linear array of Nb/Th vs. Nb/U, extending from Nb/Th=8-20, and Nb/U=26-58, whereas basalts plot on a separate, but overlapping, field extending to higher Th/U but lower Nb/Th values. Inter-element ratios of Th, U, Nb, and LREE of komatiites and basalts plot with Phanerozoic and modern ocean plateau basalts. Th, U, Nb, and LREE are fractionated in subduction zones into low Nb/Th, Nb/U, and Nb/LREE arc crust, and complementary high Nb/Th, Nb/U, and Nb/LREE residual slab. Accordingly, the Archean komatiite-basalt association may be explained by a plume that likely originated from the core-mantle boundary with komatiites erupted from a hot axis containing recycled oceanic crust, and basalts erupted from the plume annulus that entrained upper mantle containing recycled oceanic and continental crust. High Nb/Th and Nb/U of plume-related volcanic sequences documented in Abitibi, Yilgarn, and Baltic Archean greenstone belts suggest that the extraction and recycling of continental crust may have occurred early in the Archean.     

A-type granites induced by a breaking-off and delamination of the subducted Junggar oceanic plate,West Junggar,Northwest China

The A-type granites with highly positive ε_Nd(t) values in the West Junggar, Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB), have long been perceived as a group formed under the same tectonic and geodynamic setting, magmatic sourceq and petrogenetic model. Geological evidence shows that these granites occurred at two different tectonic units related to the southeastern subduction of Junggar oceanic plate: the Hongshan and Karamay granites emplaced in the southeast of West Junggar in the Baogutu continental arc; whereas the Akebasitao and Miaoergou granites formed in the accretionary prism. Here the authors present new bulk-rock geochemistry and Sr-Nd isotopes, zircon U-Pb ages and Hf-O isotopes data on these granites. The granites in the Baogutu continental arc and accretionary prism contain similar zircon ε_Hf(t) values (+10.9 to +16.2) and bulk-rock geochemical characteristics (high SiO₂ and K₂O contents, enriched LILEs (except Sr), depleted Sr, Ta and Ti, and negative anomalies in Ce and Eu). The Hongshan and Karamay granites in the Baogutu continental arc have older zircon U-Pb ages (315–305 Ma) and moderate ¹⁸O enrichments (δ¹⁸O_zircon=+6.41‰–+7.96‰); whereas the Akebasitao and Miaoergou granites in the accretionary prism have younger zircon U-Pb ages (305–301 Ma) with higher ¹⁸O enrichments (δ¹⁸O_zircon=+8.72‰–+9.89‰). The authors deduce that the elevated ¹⁸O enrichments of the Akebasitao and Miaoergou granites were probably inherited from low-temperature altered oceanic crusts. The Akebasitao and Miaoergou granites were originated from partial melting of low-temperature altered oceanic crusts with juvenile oceanic sediments below the accretionary prism. The Hongshan and Karamay granites were mainly derived from partial melting of basaltic juvenile lower crust with mixtures of potentially chemical weathered ancient crustal residues and mantle basaltic melt (induced by hot intruding mantle basaltic magma at the bottom of the Baogutu continental arc). On the other hand, the Miaoergou charnockite might be sourced from a deeper partial melting reservoir under the accretionary prism, consisting of the low-temperature altered oceanic crust, juvenile oceanic sediments, and mantle basaltic melt. These granites could be related to the asthenosphere’s counterflow and upwelling, caused by the break-off and delamination of the subducted oceanic plate beneath the accretionary prism Baogutu continental arc in a post-collisional tectonic setting.©2022 China Geology Editorial Office.