Two Neoarchean supercontinents? Evidence from the Paleoproterozoic

An unresolved question in Precambrian geology is the relationship between Archean crustal fragments that are now separated by younger orogens: were they once contiguous? Williams et al. (1991) proposed the name ‘Kenorland' for a speculative Neoarchean supercontinent comprising the Archean provinces in North America. Recently, a large number of ca. 2.5–2.0 Ga magmatic, metamorphic, detrital and xenocrystic ages have been reported from North America. We interpret that the wide geographic distribution and temporal spread of these ages may signify long-lived, regional-scale mantle upwelling, and anorogenic magmatic and metamorphic processes related to the protracted breakup of Kenorland. Breakup may have extended from ca. 2.5 to 2.1 Ga, culminating with dispersion of continental fragments at ca. 2.1–2.0 Ga. In North America, ca. 2.5–2.1 Ga intracratonic basin successions (e.g. Hurwitz Group) formed in the interior of Kenorland before dispersion, and passive margin sequences flanking the Superior Province (e.g. Huronian Supergroup) and the Wyoming Province (e.g. Snowy Pass Supergroup) defined the edges of Kenorland. Earliest Paleoproterozoic magmatic and sedimentary rocks, which include voluminous quartz arenites and glacigenic deposits, are consistent with a high-standing supercontinent and a mantle superplume. The Paleoproterozoic record from the Baltic and Siberian shields is similar to that of North America, suggesting inclusion in Kenorland. A slightly different record from the southern continents suggests a second, coexisting supercontinent that included the Zimbabwe, Kaapvaal, and Pilbara cratons, (‘Zimvaalbara' of I.G. Stanistreet), the São Francisco Craton, and possibly, cratonic blocks in India. Attenuation of this second supercontinent started earlier than in Kenorland (ca. 2.65 Ga) and was accompanied by high sea level and deposition of vast Lake Superior-type iron formations. Immediately thereafter, both supercontinents became emergent and were subject to global cooling and glaciation.     

Flood Basalts, Basalt Floods or Topless Bushvelds? Lunar Petrogenesis Revisited

There is a conspicuous dichotomy in the conventional model oflunar petrogenesis between the total intra-crustal differentiationpostulated for the products of feldspathic volcanism in thelunar highlands and the near absence of differentiation postulatedfor the products of mare volcanism. Both the cumulate mantlemodel, and the selenotherm postulated to accompany genesis ofalleged ‘primary’ mare magmas by remelting of thosecumulates, imply supra-adiabatic thermal gradients in near-solidusmaterials throughout the lunar mantle 4·3–3·2Ga ago. This should have resulted in vigorous convective motion,which has not occurred. There is no positive europium anomalyin the average lunar highland crust. That crust cannot, therefore,have formed by plagioclase flotation from a lunar magma ocean,for which there is no other requirement. There is no negativeeuropium anomaly in the average mantle to be inherited by latermare basalts. Other rocky bodies of lunar size in the SolarSystem have accreted at rates that allowed incorporation ofplenty of volatiles and without forming global magma oceans.Partial melting in the presence of water, followed by near-surfacefractionation and volatile losses can explain the feldspathiccharacter, high incompatible element concentrations and lackof Eu anomaly in the lunar highlands. Volcanic eruption on theMoon must have been accompanied by selective volatilizationlosses of sodium, sulphur and other elements similar to theprocess seen on Io, which can account for the major differencesbetween terrestrial and lunar basalts. Siderophile element depletionin lunar lavas may reflect immiscible sulphide liquid and metalseparation, rather than global impoverishment in such elements,and large ore bodies may have formed close to the lunar surface.Mare basalt volcanism appears to have been a protracted, lowmagma productivity event with few similarities to terrestrialocean-floor, ocean-island, continental flood basalt or komatiitevolcanism. At low pressure the crystallization of plagioclasewell before pyroxene typifies those terrestrial mid-ocean ridgebasalt, ocean-island basalt and continental flood basalt magmas.A similar sequence is demanded of the postulated lunar primarymagmas. Mare basalt hand-specimen and pyroclastic glass beadcompositions do not, however, display the required crystallizationsequence and cannot represent the required primary melt compositions.The true erupted lava compositions which gave rise to the regolithcompositions across all the maria are much more feldspathicthan the majority of large hand specimens and, in common withbasalts on other planets, they are close to low-pressure plagioclase-saturatedcotectic residual liquids which have evolved by removal of gabbrosin crustal magma chambers, or perhaps in giant lava lakes akinto topless Bushveld complexes. Any further debate could be resolvedby a 100 m drill core in a few mare locations. Field provenanceof samples from Mars, a planet half covered by flood basaltsand products of central volcanoes, will be little better thanfor those from the Moon. It will be important to encourage multipleworking hypotheses, rather than to rush to a consensus. KEY WORDS: lunar; basalt; highland; magma ocean; europium     

Are you Wittfogel or against him? Geophilosophy,hydro-sociality,and the state

Recent explorations of the “hydrosocial” cycle draw inspiration from Wittfogel’s basic concern with politics, power, and centralized authority, but move well beyond the limitations of previous scholarship. Most importantly, they have (re)introduced a conception of the social into the hydrological, and grappled with water’s materiality in ecumenical and creative ways. Understanding hydro-sociality requires an ontological approach to matter, flux, and flow. Water is the “universal solvent,” which makes it infinitely capable of mutation and connection. Yet, such indeterminacy proves difficult to capture in research and writing. Here I pinpoint some of the politico-discursive strengths of the hydrosocial approach, and also where I think its already strong ontological inclinations could be further developed. I draw from work in the area of “geophilosophy” as a way to explore hydro-sociality as a nonlinear process, developing a historicized account of irrigation politics, the flows of matter, and nonlinear dynamics in northwest Mexico’s Río Mayo Valley.     

Crust-Mantle Interaction in Dabie Orogenic Belt, Central China： Geochemical Evidence from Late Cretaceous Basalts

It has been suggested that eclogites in the Dabie orogenic belt are exhumation prod-ucts, which had subducted into the deep-seated mantle and undergone ultra-high pressure meta-morphism during the Triassic. But no direct evidence supports this process except the calculated p-T conditions from mineral thermobarometem. The Late Cretaceous basalts studied in the pres-ent paper, however, have provided some geochemical evidence for crust-mantle interaction in the area. These basalts are distributed in Mesozoic faulted basins in central and southern Dabieorogenic belt. Since little obvious contamination from continental crust and differentiation-crys-tallization were observed, it is suggested, based on a study of trace elements, that the basaltsare alkaline and resultant from batch partial melting of the regional mantle rocks, and share thesame or similar geochemical features with respect to their magma source. In the spider diagram normalized by the primitive mantle, trace element geochemistry data show that their mantle sources are enriched in certain elements concentrated in the continental crust, such as Pb, K,Rb and Ba, and slightly depleted in some HFSE such as Hf, P and Nb. Pb-Sr-Nd isotopic com-positions further suggest the mantle is the mixture of depleted mantle (DM) and enriched one(EMI EMII). This interaction can .explain the trace element characteristics of basaltic mag-mas, i.e.,the enrichment of Pb and the depletion of Hf, P and Nb in basalts can be interpre-ted by the blending of the eclogites in DOB (enriched in Pb and depleted in Hf, P and Nd)with the East China depleted mantle (As compared to the primitive mantle, it is neither en-riched in Pb nor depleted in Hf, P and Nb). It is also indicated that the eclogites in the Dahieorogenic belt were surely derived from the exhumation materials, which had delaminated into thedeep-seated mantle. Moreover, the process subsequently resulted in compositional variation of the mantle (especially in trace elements and isotopes) , as revealed by the late mantle-derivedbasalts in the Dabie orogenic belt.     

Source of the Quaternary Alkalic Basalts, Picrites and Basanites of the Potrillo Volcanic Field, New Mexico, USA: Lithosphere or Convecting Mantle?

The <80 ka basalts–basanites of the Potrillo VolcanicField (PVF) form scattered scoria cones, lava flows and maarsadjacent to the New Mexico–Mexico border. MgO ranges upto 12·5%; lavas with MgO < 10·7% have fractionatedboth olivine and clinopyroxene. Cumulate fragments are commonin the lavas, as are subhedral megacrysts of aluminous clinopyroxene(with pleonaste inclusions) and kaersutitic amphibole. REE modellingindicates that these megacrysts could be in equilibrium withthe PVF melts at 1·6–1·7 GPa pressure. Thelavas fall into two geochemical groups: the Main Series (85%of lavas) have major- and trace-element abundances and ratiosclosely resembling those of worldwide ocean-island alkali basaltsand basanites (OIB); the Low-K Series (15%) differ principallyby having relatively low K₂O and Rb contents. Otherwise, theyare chemically indistinguishable from the Main Series lavas.Sr- and Nd-isotopic ratios in the two series are identical andvary by scarcely more than analytical error, averaging ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr= 0·70308 (SD = 0·00004) and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd = 0·512952(SD=0·000025). Such compositions would be expected ifboth series originated from the same mantle source, with Low-Kmelts generated when amphibole remained in the residuum. ThreePVF lavas have very low Os contents (<14 ppt) and appearto have become contaminated by crustal Os. One Main Series picritehas 209 ppt Os and has a _Os value of +13·6, typical forOIB. This contrasts with published ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os ratios for KilbourneHole peridotite mantle xenoliths, which give mostly negative_Os values and show that Proterozoic lithospheric mantle formsa thick Mechanical Boundary Layer (MBL) that extends to 70 kmdepth beneath the PVF area. The calculated mean primary magma,in equilibrium with Fo₈₉, has Na₂O and FeO contents that givea lherzolite decompression melting trajectory from 2·8GPa (95 km depth) to 2·2 GPa (70 km depth). Inverse modellingof REE abundances in Main Series Mg-rich lavas is successfulfor a model invoking decompression melting of convecting sub-lithosphericlherzolite mantle (Nd = 6·4; T_p 1400°C) between90 and 70 km. Nevertheless, such a one-stage model cannot accountfor the genesis of the Low-K Series because amphibole wouldnot be stable within convecting mantle at T_f 1400°C. Thesemagmas can only be accommodated by a three-stage model thatenvisages a Thermal Boundary Layer (TBL) freezing conductivelyonto the 70 km base of the Proterozoic MBL during the 20 Myrtectonomagmatic quiescence before PVF eruptions. As it grew,this was veined by hydrous small-fraction melts from below.The geologically recent arrival of hotter-than-ambient (T_p 1400°C) convecting mantle beneath the Potrillo area re-meltedthe TBL and caused the magmatism. KEY WORDS: western USA; picrites; Sr–Nd–Os isotopes; petrogenetic modelling; thermal boundary layer     

Wet or dry? The difficulty of identifying the presence of water during crustal melting

Partial melting of continental crust and evolution of granitic magmas are inseparably linked to the availability of H₂O. In the absence of a free aqueous fluid, melting takes place at relatively high temperatures by dehydration of hydrous minerals, whereas in its presence, melting temperatures are lowered, and melting need not involve hydrous minerals. With the exception of anatexis in water‐saturated environments where anhydrous peritectic minerals are absent, there is no reliable indicator that clearly identifies the presence of a free aqueous fluid during anatexis. Production of Ab‐rich magmas or changes in LILE ratios, such as an increase in Sr and decrease in Rb indicating increased involvement of plagioclase, are rough guidelines to the presence of aqueous fluids. Nevertheless, all indicators have caveats and cannot be unequivocally applied, allowing for the persistence of a bias in the literature towards dehydration melting. Investigation of mineral equilibria modelling of three metasedimentary protoliths of the Kangaroo Island migmatites in South Australia, shows that the main indicator for the presence of small volumes of excess water under upper amphibolite to lower granulite facies conditions (660–750°C) is the melt volume produced. Melt composition, modal content or chemical composition of peritectic minerals such as cordierite, sillimanite or garnet are relatively insensitive to the presence of free water. However, the mobility of melt during open system behaviour makes it difficult to determine the melt volume produced. We therefore argue that the presence of small volumes of excess water might be much more common than so far inferred, with large impact on the buffering of crustal temperatures and fertility, and therefore rheology of the continental crust.     

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

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

Micro-textures in plagioclase from 1994–1995 eruption, Barren Island Volcano: Evidence of dynamic magma plumbing system in the Andaman subduction zone

A systematic account of micro-textures and a few compositional profles of plagioclase from high-alumina basaltic aa lava erupted during the year 1994-1995,from Barren Island Volcano,NE India ocean,are presented for the frst time.The identifed micro-textures can be grouped into two categories:(i)Growth related textures in the form of coarse/fne-sieve morphology,fne-scale oscillatory zoning and resorption surfaces resulted when the equilibrium at the crystal-melt interface was fuctuated due to change in temperature or H2O or pressure or composition of the crystallizing melt;and(ii)morphological texture,like glomerocryst,synneusis,swallow-tailed crystal,microlite and broken crystals,formed by the infuence of dynamic behavior of the crystallizing magma(convection,turbulence,degassing,etc.).Each micro-texture has developed in a specifc magmatic environment,accordingly,a frst order magma plumbing model and crystallization dynamics are envisaged for the studied lava unit.Magma generated has undergone extensive fractional crystallization of An-rich plagioclase in stable magmatic environment at a deeper depth.Subsequently they ascend to a shallow chamber where the newly brought crystals and pre-existing crystals have undergone dynamic crystallization via dissolution-regrowth processes in a convective selfmixing environment.Such repeated recharge-recycling processes have produced various populations of plagioclase with different micro-textural stratigraphy in the studied lava unit.Intermittent degassing and eruption related decompression have also played a major role in the fnal stage of crystallization dynamics.     

Alkaline Basalts in the Bayingou Ophiolitic Melange of Northern Tianshan Mountains:Origination from Seamounts?

正Objective The Bayingou ophiolitic melange is located in Northern Tianshan Mountains of the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt which is the largest accretionary orogen among the European,Siberian,Tarim and North China cratons.The Bayingou ophiolitic melange provide a critical geological record for unraveling regional tectonic history     

Rapid development of the great Millennium eruption of Changbaishan (Tianchi) Volcano,China/North Korea: Evidence from U–Th zircon dating

The Changbaishan (Tianchi) volcano extending across the border of northeast China and North Korea erupted ~ 100 km³ peralkaline rhyolites around 1000 AD. This Millennium eruption of the Changbaishan volcano is one of the two largest explosive eruptions in the past 2000 years. Here we report the results of uranium–thorium dating of zircons from the Changbaishan volcanic rocks. Our data indicate that the rhyolitic magmas were stored in the crust for only 8.2 ± 1.2 ka prior to eruption. Based on titanium-in-zircon geothermometer and alkali feldspar-glass geothermometer, the rhyolitic magmas were formed at a relatively low temperature (~ 740 ± 40 °C). This storage time is very short compared with other large volume catastrophic silicic eruptions. This work demonstrates that peralkaline rhyolitic magmas from the Changbaishan volcano can develop into a catastrophic eruptive phase quite quickly.     

Tectonic Setting,Emplacement and Petrological Сharacteristics of the Qazan Granitoids: Evidence for the Neo-Tethyan Subduction,Urumieh‒Dokhtar Magmatic Arc,Iran

Geotectonics - The Qazan granitoid pluton (South of Kashan, Iran) is situated in the central part of the Urumieh–Dokhtar Magmatic Arc. The plutonic body includes in its composition...     

Nd-Pb Isotopes of Basement Rocks, Granitoids and Basalts from the Western Margin of the Yangtze Craton. Implications for Crustal Evolution

INTRODUCTION TheYangtzecratonisoneofthemaingeotectonic blocksofChina'scontinent,connectingtheGanzi Song panblockwiththeLongmenMountainsinthewest Geologicalandtectonicstudieshaveshownthatthe basementoftheGanzi Songpanblockissimilartothe Yangtzecraton(Xuet…     

Eruption of the Continental Flood Basalts at -259 Ma in the Emeishan Large Igneous Province, SW China： Evidence from Laser Microprobe ^40Ar/^39Ar Dating

A suite of continental flood basalts sampled over a vast exposure and stratigraphic thickness in the Emeishan large igneous province (LIP), SW China was investigated for laser microprobe 40Ar/39Ar dating. There are two 40Ar/39Ar age groups for these basalts, corresponding to 259-246 Ma and 177-137 Ma, respectively. A well-defined isochron gives an eruption age of huge quantities of mafic magmas at 258.9±3.4 Ma, which is identical to previous dating and paleontological data. Much younger 40Ar/39Ar ages for some basalts with low-greenschist metamorphic facies probably recorded a late thermo-tectonic event caused by collision between the Yangtze and Qiangtang continental blocks during the Mesozoic, which resulted in the reset of argon isotope system. The 40Ar/39Ar age data, we present here, combined with previous dating and paleontological data, suggest relatively short duration (about 3 Ma) of mafic volcanism, which have important implication on mantle plume genesis of the Emeishan continental flood basalts in the LIP.     

Do subsidies improve the financial performance of renewable energy companies? Evidence from China

Natural Hazards - The promotion of renewable energy cannot be separated from the support provided by government subsidies. However, the effect of government subsidies is controversial. Taking...     

Petrology of a Subduction-related Caldera and Post-Collisional,Extension-related Volcanic Cones from the Early Cambrian and Middle Ordovician (?) of the Camaquã Basin,Southern Brazil

The region studied, located in southern Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, 25 km to the northeast of Lavras do Sul, records two volcanic events. The first is the eruption of pyroclastic material and localized flows of alkali-basalt, trachyandesite and andesite composition, corresponding to the early Cambrian Hilário Formation. This event in the region, through tectonic reactivation and explosive expulsion of a large amount of material from the magmatic reservoir chamber, which later faulted and collapsed, has generated an elliptical caldera of 7.2 km × 3.0 km. The rocks in the caldera have derived from partial melting of a spinel lherzolitic or garnet lherzolitic mantle, in a typically orogenic, calc-alkaline environment. They were generated during the final phase of subduction of the Adamastor plate beneath the Rio de la Plata plate in the early Cambrian. The second event occurred in a post-collisional tectonic setting in the Middle Ordovician?, when alkaline magma was emplaced through deep fractures, generating four cones within the collapsed caldera. The rocks in the cones bear the geochemical signature of a more evolved magma when compared to the rocks in the caldera, having been formed through low fusion rates of a garnet-depleted source in the upper mantle. It represents the last phase of the Pan-African-Brasiliano Orogeny, which occurred right after the collision of the Rio de La Plata and Kalahari continental plates, in a retroarc setting.     

Genesis of Podiform Chromite Deposits——Evidence from the Luobosa Chromite Deposits, Tibet

Taking for example the Luobosa chromite deposit in Tibet combined with other deposits of the same type in the world, the paper discusses the genetic mechanism of podiform chromite deposits. The study indicates that chromite and dunite-harzburgite are both the products of different degrees of partial melting of the same primary pyrolite(spinel lherzolite) and that chromite and dunite are the end product of higher degree of partial melting.The melting mechanism lies in the convcrsion of the two subgroups of pyroxenes(Cpx and Opx) into olivine and spinel respectively as a result of their incongruent melting, accompanied by regulation and reformation of accessory chrome spinel and such rock-forming minerals as Ol, Opx and Cpx, thus resulting in the close association of chromite deposits and dunite. The results of this study are of general significance for understanding the genesis of chromite deposits of the same type in the world.     

Retrogressive Microstructures of the Eclogites from the Northern Dabie Mountains, Central China： Evidence for Rapid Exhumation

The ultrahigh-pressure eclogites from the northern Dabie Mountains in central China occurred as tectonic lens or blocks within granitic gneisses or meta-peridotites. Petrologic studies suggest that the studied eclogites experienced strongly retrogressive metamorphism and produced a series of characteristic retrogressive microstructures. The retrograde structures mainly include: (1) oriented needle mineral exsolution, e. g. , quartz needles in Na-clinopyroxene and rotile, clinopyroxene and apatite exsolution in garnet formed under decreasing pressure conditions during exhumation; (2) symplectite, especially, two generations of symplectites developed outside the garnet grains, which are called ““double symplectite““ here; (3) compositional zoning of minerals such as garnet and clinopyroxene; (4) minerals with a reaction rim or retrograde rim, e.g. , omphacite with a diopside rim, diopside with an amphibole rim and rutile with a rim of ilmenite. These retrograde textures, especially mineral zoning and symplectite, provide important petrologic evidence for the exhumation process and uplift of high-grade metamorphic rocks such as eclogite in the northern Dabie Mountains, indicating a rapid exhumation process.     

Does patents on environmental technologies matter for the ecological footprint in the USA? Evidence from the novel Fourier ARDL approach

The outcome of patents on environmental (POET) technologies on the EF in the USA has not been comprehensively explored. Therefore, to close this breach in the literature, the present study discovers how patents on ecological technologies affect ecological footprint (EF) in the USA while regulatory for GDP and EC using the Fourier-based approaches. The conclusions of the present study reveal that POET are an important predictor of EF in the USA and cause a reduction in ecological deprivation in the long run; as expected, economic growth negatively affects environmental sustainability. The outcomes suggest that it is possible to resolve conflicts between the economy and the environment by using technological innovation. The USA government must reconsider its policy focus, particularly on coal energy sourcing and industrial energy, while continuing with heavy investments in its ambitious renewable energy technology development plan. Moreover, the government should continue to promote investments in environmental technologies.