Hotspots and mantle plumes: global intraplate tectonics, magmatism and ore deposits

Summary Intraplate tectono-magmatic phenomena, including the emplacement of layered intrusions, and the giant dyke swarms, anorogenic (hotspot) volcanism, oceanic plataeux, rifting processes, basin formation, and geomorphological features are discussed in the context of the mantle plume theory. A review of the relationships between mantle plumes and ore deposits focuses on direct links, proxied by the emplacement of mafic-ultramafic magmas (e.g. PGE and Ni–Cu sulphides associated with flood basalts) and indirectly in rift systems where high geothermal gradients are set up in the crust above the plume, induce large scale circulation of hydrothermal fluids, which result in the generation of a wide range of ore deposits. Peak periods in the deposition of iron formations coincide with plume events in the Archeaen and Proterozoic. Passive margins, which evolve from continental breakups and triple junctions, host abundant mineral and hydrocarbon resources.     

Early Paleozoic tectonics and geodynamics of Central Asia: role of mantle plumes

There were two key stages in the history of Paleozoids that formed in the place of the Paleoasian ocean, one in the Cambrian–Ordovician and the other in the Permian–Triassic. Both time spans were characterized by a combination of similar geodynamic, magmatic, and geomagnetic events: closure and opening of oceanic basins, intense plume magmatism associated with Earth's core cooling, and absence of geomagnetic reversals (superchrons). Three superchrons about 490–460, 260–300, and 124–86 Ma correlate with major events of plume magmatism. Plume reconstructions have to be updated for the period 490–460 Ma, which corresponded to the third superchron and was marked by ocean opening. The previous superplume, about 800–740 Ma, requires further justification but fits the global periodicity with 240 Ma major cycles and smaller ones of 120 (or also 30) Ma.In the Late Cambrian–Ordovician, large-scale accretion and collision events acted, in similar tectonic settings, upon the vast territory that currently extends from the Polar Urals to Lake Baikal (and was times larger in the past). As a result, Gondwanian microcontinents (Kokchetav, Altai–Mongolia, Tuva–Mongolia, etc.) and island arcs joined into the Kazakhstan–Tuva–Mongolia system. The formation of the Late Cambrian–Ordovician orogen in Central Asia was synchronous with opening of the Ural, Ob–Zaisan, Turkestan, and Paleotethys oceans. The plume pulses (520–500 and 490–460 Ma) may have been responsible for opening of new oceans, accelerated amalgamation of terranes, and synchronicity in geodynamic events from the Urals to Transbaikalia.     

Stagnant lids and mantle overturns:Implications for Archaean tectonics,magmagenesis,crustal growth,mantle evolution,and the start of plate tectonics

The lower plate is the dominant agent in modern convergent margins characterized by active subduction,as negatively buoyant oceanic lithosphere sinks into the asthenosphere under its own weight.This is a strong plate-driving force because the slab-pull force is transmitted through the stiff sub-oceanic lithospheric mantle.As geological and geochemical data seem inconsistent with the existence of modernstyle ridges and arcs in the Archaean,a periodically-destabilized stagnant-lid crust system is proposed instead.Stagnant-lid intervals may correspond to periods of layered mantle convection where efficient cooling was restricted to the upper mantle,perturbing Earth's heat generation/loss balance,eventually triggering mantle overturns.Archaean basalts were derived from fertile mantle in overturn upwelling zones(OUZOs),which were larger and longer-lived than post-Archaean plumes.Early cratons/continents probably formed above OUZOs as large volumes of basalt and komatiite were delivered for protracted periods,allowing basal crustal cannibalism,garnetiferous crustal restite delamination,and coupled development of continental crust and sub-continental lithospheric mantle.Periodic mixing and rehomogenization during overturns retarded development of isotopically depleted MORB(mid-ocean ridge basalt)mantle.Only after the start of true subduction did sequestration of subducted slabs at the coremantle boundary lead to the development of the depleted MORB mantle source.During Archaean mantle overturns,pre-existing continents located above OUZOs would be strongly reworked;whereas OUZOdistal continents would drift in response to mantle currents.The leading edge of drifting Archaean continents would be convergent margins characterized by terrane accretion,imbrication,subcretion and anatexis of unsubductable oceanic lithosphere.As Earth cooled and the background oceanic lithosphere became denser and stiffer,there would be an increasing probability that oceanic crustal segments could founder in an organized way,producing a gradual evolution of pre-subduction convergent margins into modern-style active subduction systems around 2.5 Ga.Plate tectonics today is constituted of:(1)a continental drift system that started in the Early Archaean,driven by deep mantle currents pressing against the Archaean-age sub-continental lithospheric mantle keels that underlie Archaean cratons;(2)a subduction-driven system that started near the end of the Archaean.     

Mantle hotspots, plumes and regional tectonics as causes of intraplate magmatism

In continental areas it is often difficult to determine the cause of intraplate magmatism. Large volumes of magma, high eruption rates, and the presence of a hotspot trace on the adjacent ocean floor, are all evidence for the presence of an anomalously hot mantle. However, in many continental magmas there are chemical variations with time which are inferred to reflect changes from asthenospheric to predominantly lithospheric source regions, or vice versa. It is argued that these chemical characteristics constrain whether magmatism was triggered by the emplacement of a mantle plume, or by lithospheric extension.     

Plate tectonics and volcanism in the gibraltar arc

Late Tertiary and Quaternary volcanism of southeastern Spain can be fitted in a platetectonics model, taking into account the post-Paleozoic evolution of the stable and semimobile Iberian areas and the new orogenic belts bordering the Mediterranean between Africa and the Iberian Peninsula.The occurrence and distribution of calc-alkaline and potassic volcanism suggest an oceanic crust sinking downwards from the Iberian plate. This active margin is causally related to the convergence and collision of Iberia and Africa during Late Cretaceous—Early Miocene time span.A pre-collision distensive phase is inferred from the stratigraphie and tectonic record between the Triassic and Late Cretaceous, while since the Late Miocene another distensive phase is related to the actualistic features.     

Origin of Neoproterozoic ophiolitic peridotites in south Eastern Desert, Egypt, constrained from primary mantle mineral chemistry

The ophiolitic peridotites in the Wadi Arais area, south Eastern Desert of Egypt, represent a part of Neoproterozoic ophiolites of the Arabian-Nubian Shield (ANS). We found relics of fresh dunites enveloped by serpentinites that show abundances of bastite after orthopyroxene, reflecting harzburgite protoliths. The bulk-rock chemistry confirmed the harzburgites as the main protoliths. The primary mantle minerals such as orthopyroxene, olivine and chromian spinel in Arais serpentinites are still preserved. The orthopyroxene has high Mg# [=Mg/(Mg + Fe²⁺)], ~0.923 on average. It shows intra-grain chemical homogeneity and contains, on average, 2.28 wt.% A1₂O₃, 0.88 wt.% Cr₂O₃ and 0.53 wt.% CaO, similar to primary orthopyroxenes in modern forearc peridotites. The olivine in harzburgites has lower Fo (93?94.5) than that in dunites (Fo_94.3?Fo_95.9). The Arais olivine is similar in NiO (0.47 wt.% on average) and MnO (0.08 wt.% on average) contents to the mantle olivine in primary peridotites. This olivine is high in Fo content, similar to Mg-rich olivines in ANS ophiolitic harzburgites, because of its residual origin. The chromian spinel, found in harzburgites, shows wide ranges of Cr#s [=Cr/(Cr + Al)], 0.46?0.81 and Mg#s, 0.34?0.67. The chromian spinel in dunites shows an intra-grain chemical homogeneity with high Cr#s (0.82?0.86). The chromian spinels in Arais peridotites are low in TiO₂, 0.05 wt.% and Y_Fe [= Fe³⁺/(Cr + Al + Fe³⁺)], ~0.06 on average. They are similar in chemistry to spinels in forearc peridotites. Their compositions associated with olivine’s Fo suggest that the harzburgites are refractory residues after high-degree partial melting (mainly ~25?30 % partial melting) and dunites are more depleted, similar to highly refractory peridotites recovered from forearcs. This is in accordance with the partial melting (>20 % melt) obtained by the whole-rock Al₂O₃ composition. The Arais peridotites have been possibly formed in a sub-arc setting (mantle wedge), where high degrees of partial melting were available during subduction and closing of the Mozambique Ocean, and emplaced in a forearc basin. Their equilibrium temperature based on olivine?spinel thermometry ranges from 650 to 780 °C, and their oxygen fugacity is high (Δlog ?O₂?=?2.3 to 2.8), which is characteristic of mantle-wedge peridotites. The Arais peridotites are affected by secondary processes forming microinclusions inside the dunitic olivine, abundances of carbonates and talc flakes in serpentinites. These microinclusions have been formed by reaction between trapped fluids and host olivine in a closed system. Lizardite and chrysotile, based on Raman analyses, are the main serpentine minerals with lesser antigorite, indicating that serpentines were possibly formed under retrograde metamorphism during exhumation and near the surface at low T (<400 °C).     

Strontium and lead isotopic ratios,heterogeneous accretion of the Earth,and mantle plumes

If the Earth formed by accretion of volatile-rich material on to a refractory, primitive body with incomplete subsequent mixing, old or deep-seated igneous rocks should exhibit an anti-correlation between radiogenic Pb and radiogenic Sr. The ancient Amîtsoq gneiss and some modern oceanic rocks appear to comply with this model. Mantle plumes should not be a source of radiogenic Sr.     

Permo–Triassic intraplate magmatism and rifting in Eurasia: implications for mantle plumes and mantle dynamics

At the transition from the Permian to the Triassic, Eurasia was the site of voluminous flood-basalt extrusion and rifting. Major flood-basalt provinces occur in the Tunguska, Taymyr, Kuznetsk, Verkhoyansk–Vilyuy and Pechora areas, as well as in the South Chinese Emeishen area. Contemporaneous rift systems developed in the West Siberian, South Kara Sea and Pyasina–Khatanga areas, on the Scythian platform and in the West European and Arctic–North Atlantic domain. At the Permo–Triassic transition, major extensional stresses affected apparently Eurasia, and possibly also Pangea, as evidenced by the development of new rift systems. Contemporaneous flood-basalt activity, inducing a global environmental crisis, is interpreted as related to the impingement of major mantle plumes on the base of the Eurasian lithosphere. Moreover, the Permo–Triassic transition coincided with a period of regional uplift and erosion and a low-stand in sea level. Permo–Triassic rifting and mantle plume activity occurred together with a major reorganization of plate boundaries and plate kinematics that marked the transition from the assembly of Pangea to its break-up. This plate reorganization was possibly associated with a reorganization of the global mantle convection system. On the base of the geological record, we recognize short-lived and long-lived plumes with a duration of magmatic activity of some 10–20 million years and 100–150 million years, respectively. The Permo–Triassic Siberian and Emeishan flood-basalt provinces are good examples of “short-lived” plumes, which contrast with such “long lived” plumes as those of Iceland and Hawaii. The global record indicates that mantle plume activity occurred episodically. Purely empirical considerations indicate that times of major mantle plume activity are associated with periods of global mantle convection reorganization during which thermally driven mantle convection is not fully able to facilitate the necessary heat transfer from the core of the Earth to its surface. In this respect, we distinguish between two geodynamically different scenarios for major plume activity. The major Permo–Triassic plume event followed the assembly Pangea and the detachment of deep-seated subduction slabs from the lithosphere. The Early–Middle Cretaceous major plume event, as well as the terminal–Cretaceous–Paleocene plume event, followed a sharp acceleration of global sea-floor spreading rates and the insertion of new subduction zone slabs deep into the mantle. We conclude that global plate kinematics, driven by mantle convection, have a bearing on the development of major mantle plumes and, to a degree, also on the pattern of related flood-basalt magmatism.     

Hydroextrusion as a possible mechanism for the ascent of diapirs,domes, and mantle plumes

A possible mechanism of the ascent of material within the Earth’s crust and mantle is the mechanism of hydroextrusion, i.e., the effect of squeezing of material under excess pressure. The major factors that predetermine the high plasticity of the material and its ability to produce hydroextrusions are high lithostatic pressures and temperatures. The phenomenon of hydroextrusion can be most clearly illustrated by the example of the origin of salt diapirs. The driving force of hydroextrusions of material in the crust and mantle is excess pressure, which can result from lateral differences between the densities of rocks (as is the case during the development of salt diapirs) and phase transitions associated with a volume increase. When the material of the upper mantle undergoes partial melting with the derivation of basaltic melts at depths of 60–100 km, excess pressures reach 80 MPa, whereas the plasticity limit of 20% melted rocks is no higher than 5 MPa. As a result, the partially molten material is forced from the melting region toward zones with lower lithostatic pressures. A local temperature increase in the transitional zones in the Earth’s mantle at positive dP/dT values of the phase transitions also gives rise to excess pressures, whose values can range from 100 to 800 MPa at a 0.5–3.0% volume change and which can be the driving force during the origin of mantle plumes. Original Russian Text ? V.N. Anfilogov, Yu.V. Khachai, 2006, published in Geokhimiya, 2006, No. 8, pp. 873–878.     

Plate tectonics and cratonal geology in Northeast Africa (Egypt,Sudan)

The stratigraphical interpretation of the strata of Nubia allows for the first time — in connection with structural, petrological and sedimentological investigations — to reconstruct the geological development of this cratonal area. After cratonization during the PanAfrican event, extensional trends in WSW-ENE direction caused a structural relief, striking NNW-SSE. The collision between Gondwana and the northern continents during the Carboniferous resulted in the uplifting of large parts of the northeast African Plate and was accompanied by more or less East-West striking faults and magmatic intrusions. Erosion of Paleozoic sediments in middle and southern Egypt and reversal of the main drainage direction was the consequence. This caused deposition of Karroo-type strata in northern Sudan, including glacial deposits at the base along the Sudanes Egyptian border.The breaking apart of Pangea during Jurassic time led to a northward tilt of NE-Africa again and consequently, the main drainage system began to follow its original north-ward directions. New structural elements developed, partly following older trends. Differing resistence against the northward drift of northeast Africa including Arabia led to the separation of Arabia from Africa and to the formation of the Red Sea — Gulf of Suez — Gulf of Akaba-Graben system. All major structural events were accompanied by magmatic activity.

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Zusammenfassung Die Klärung der stratigraphischen Stellung der Sedimentserien Nubiens hat zusammen mit den Ergebnissen sedimentologischer, tektonischer und petrologischer Untersuchungen Einblicke in die Entwicklung dieses kratonalen Gebietes zur Folge, die bisher nicht möglich waren.Die bekannten globaltektonischen Gro\ereignisse haben danach seit dem frühen Paläozoikum auf dem Ostsahara Kraton die Verteilung von Abtragungs- und Ablagerungsgebieten entscheidend beeinflu\t und waren dort von bruchtektonischen Vorgängen und magmatischen Ereignissen begleitet.Danach bestand im Paläozoikum bis ins Karbon ein WSW-ENE gerichtetes Dehnungsrelief mit daraus resultierender Anordnung entsprechend NNW-SSE gerichteter Gro\schollen. Die Kollision Gondwanas mit den Nordkontinenten hatte im Karbon Aufwölbung von Teilen des Ostsahara Kratons entlang einer Ost-West Achse zur Folge, begleitet von Ost-West gerichteten Bruchsystemen und nachfolgend von der Intrusion intermediärer Magmatite.Eine Folge der Aufwölbung war die völlige Umkehr der Entwässerungssysteme und entsprechende Erosion vorher mit paläozoischen Sedimenten bedeckter Bereiche vor allem Mittel- und Südägyptens. Lokale Vergletscherung im späten Karbon und Karroo-ähnliche Sedimentationsbedingungen bis in den Unterjura waren im Nordsudan eine weitere Folge.Mit dem Auseinanderbrechen des Superkontinentes Pangea während des Jura stellte sich die bereits im Paläozoikum übliche Nordneigung der Ostsaharatafel wieder ein, neue bruchtektonische Elemente entwickelten sich, und es kam zu erneuter Umkehr der Haupt-Entwässerungsrichtung und damit zur Annäherung an die heutige Situation. Differenzierter Widerstand gegen die Nordrift der Ostsaharaplatte führte schlie\lich zur Abtrennung Arabiens und damit zur Entwicklung des Grabensystems Rotes Meer — Akaba — Suez.

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Résumé L'établissement de la stratigraphie de la série sédimentaire de Nubie et des régions voisines, joint aux données récentes sédimentologiques, tectoniques et pétrologiques, permet aujourd'hui de reconstituer l'histoire de ce domaine cratonique, chose qui était jusqu'ici impossible.Après la cratonisation du Sahara occidental à la fin du cycle panafricain, les événements géodynamiques (tectonique cassante et magmatisme) ont déterminé dans cette région la répartition des aires d'érosion et de sédimentation.Ainsi au PaléozoÏque s'installe une tendance à l'extension dans le sens WSW-ENE qui perdura jusqu'au Carbonifère avec pour conséquence un relief structural d'orientation NNW-SSE. La collision du Gondwana avec les continents septentrionaux au cours du Carbonifère a provoqué le soulèvement d'une grande partie de l'Est saharien, accompagné d'un système de cassures E-W et d'intrusions magmatiques.Ce soulèvement a eu pour conséquence une inversion complète du système de drainage et l'érosion des sédiments paléozoÏques en Egypte moyenne et méridionale. Une autre conséquence a été, dans le Nord du Soudan, l'établissement de glaciers locaux et le dépÔt de sédiments de type Karroo.La dislocation de la Pangée au Jurassique a été accompagnée d'un nouveau basculement vers le Nord du Sahara oriental, avec nouvelle inversion du système de drainage. Finalement, la résistance inégale rencontrée dans sa dérive vers le Nord par la plaque nord-est africaine amena la séparation de l'Arabie avec formation du système des grabens Mer Rouge — Akaba — Suez.

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Kimberlite emplacement and mantle sampling through time at A154N kimberlite volcano,Diavik Diamond Mine: lessons from the deep

The Diavik Diamond Mine in the NWT of Canada has produced in excess of 100 million carats from 3 kimberlite pipes since mining commenced in 2002. Here, we present new findings from deep (>400 m below surface) mining, sampling and drilling work in the A154N kimberlite volcano that require a revision of previous geological and emplacement models and provide a window into how the sub-continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) below Diavik was sampled by kimberlite magmas through time. Updated internal geological models feature two volcanic packages interpreted to represent two successive cycles of explosive eruption followed by active and passive sedimentation from a presumed crater-rim, both preceded and followed by intrusions of coherent kimberlite. Contact relationships apparent among the geological units allow for a sequential organization of as many as five temporally-discrete emplacement events. Representative populations of mantle minerals extracted from geological units corresponding to four of the emplacement events at A154N are analyzed for major and trace elements, and provide insights into the whether or not kimberlites randomly sample from the mantle. Two independent geothermometers using clinopyroxene and garnet data indicate similar source depths for clinopyroxenes and G9 garnets (130–160 km), and suggest deeper sampling with time for both clinopyroxene and garnets. Harzburgite is limited to 110–160 km, and appears more prevalent in early, low-volume events. Variable ratios of garnet parageneses from the same depth horizons suggest random sampling by passing magmas, but deeper garnet sampling through time suggests early preferential sampling of shallow/depleted SCLM. Evaluations of Ti, Zr, Y and Ga over the range of estimated depths support models of the SCLM underlying the central Slave terrane.

     

Large cold anomalies in the deep mantle and mantle instability in the Cretaceous

Two large cold masses in the deep mantle have been delineated by using long-wavelength seismic tomographic models in conjunction with mineralogical experimental data at high pressure. These cold anomalies are found under the western Pacific and the Americas with temperatures more than 1000 degrees below the ambient mantle temperature. These strong cold anomalies existing in the lower mantle today would suggest that there might have existed not too long ago a substantial temperature jump across a thermal boundary layer between the upper and lower mantle. Numerical simulations in an axisymmetric spherical-shell model incorporating the two major phase transitions have shown that very large pools of cold material with temperatures of around 1500 K can be flushed down to the core–mantle boundary during this tumultuous gravitational instability. A correlation is found between the current locations of these very cold masses and regions of past subduction since the Cretaceous. Correlation analysis shows that the slab mass-flux into the lower mantle does not behave in a steady-state fashion. These findings may support the idea of a strong gravitational instability with origins in the transition zone, as suggested by numerical models of mantle convection.     

Dynamics and evolution of the deep mantle resulting from thermal,chemical, phase and melting effects

The core–mantle boundary (CMB) – the interface between the silicate mantle and liquid iron alloy outer core – is the most important boundary inside our planet, with processes occurring in the deep mantle above it playing a major role in the evolution of both the core and the mantle. The last decade has seen an astonishing improvement in our knowledge of this region due to improvements in seismological data and techniques for mapping both large- and small-scale structures, mineral physics discoveries such as post-perovskite and the iron spin transition, and dynamical modelling. The deep mantle is increasingly revealed as a very complex region characterised by large variations in temperature and composition, phase changes, melting (possibly at present and certainly in the past), and anisotropic structures. Here, some fundamentals of the relevant processes and uncertainties are reviewed in the context of long-term Earth evolution and how it has led to the observed present-day structures. Melting has been a dominant process in Earth's evolution. Several processes involving melting, some of which operated soon after Earth's formation and some of which operated throughout its history, have produced dense, iron rich material that has likely sunk to the deepest mantle to be incorporated into a heterogeneous basal mélange (BAM) that is now evident seismically as two large low-velocity regions under African and the Pacific, but was probably much larger in the past. This BAM modulates core heat flux, plume formation and the separation of different slab components, and may contain various trace-element cocktails required to explain geochemical observations. The geographical location of BAM material has, however, probably changed through Earth's history due to the inherent time-dependence of plate tectonics and continental cycles.     

板块构造与幔柱构造的相互关系——以中国东部中、新生代控矿因素为例

侏罗纪以来,太平洋板块与欧亚板块俯冲碰撞,促成了中国东部以NNE-NE向断裂为主体的断裂构造格局。从地震面波层析成像反演资料及东北和华北地质剖面得知,该地区应属东亚巨型宽裂谷体系的东部地区,系亚幔柱活动所致。全区P波速度、岩石圈不连续和减薄转型、软流圈物质呈蘑菇云状上升以及大火成岩省等特征证明中国东部中、新生代为亚幔柱构造控制成矿成藏,从而证实板块构造与幔柱构造相辅相成的关系。幔柱构造可划分3级,金属矿床常受幔枝构造的控制,多成群成带分布。由于成矿物质来自深部地核或软流圈,金属元素呈垂直分带的规律成为"攻深找盲"的理论依据;而油气田深部常受深部热源影响,若有海相烃源层分布,是寻找"无机"和海相油气田的主攻目标。     

New data on deep structure, tectonics, and mineralogeny of the Zeya-Bureya Basin

The Zeya-Bureya Basin is a part of the East Asian intracontinental riftogenic belt, which includes oil-and-gas bearing and Mesozoic-Cenozoic sedimentary basins perspective for oil and gas (Upper Zeya, Songliao, Liaohe, North Chinese). The basins are characterized by certain geophysical features: reduced thickness of the Earth’s crust and lithosphere, a higher thermal flow and a raised roof of the asthenosphere. The Zeya-Bureya Basin is composed of Mesozoic-Cenozoic sedimentary-volcanic units, with respect to which the deep structure data are absent. In 2010, geoelectric studies were carried out in this territory using the method of magnetotelluric sounding along the profile Blagoveshchensk-Birokan. These works yielded geoelectric sections down to 2 and 200 km depth. The sedimentary cover is characterized by electric resistivity of 20–50 Ohm m and by thickness of 1700 m. In the section, the Khingan-Olonoi volcanogenic trough is distinct for resistivity of 200–300 Ohm m at a background of 500–1000 Ohm m of the basement rocks. The Zeya-Bureya Basin, in terms of its geophysical characteristics, differs from oil-and-gas bearing basins of the riftogenic belt (thickness of the lithosphere is increased up to 120 km, thermal flow is low, 40–47 mW/m²). The structure of mantle underplating is explicitly seen in the section. The geophysical characteristics close to those of the Zeya-Bureya Depression are typical for gold-bearing structures of the Lower Amur ore district. Nevertheless, manifestations of oil-and-gas bearing potential in particular grabens are possible.