太平洋板块中—新生代构造演化及板块重建

太平洋板块是一个中生代以来形成的地球上最大的大洋板块,但其起源机制、结构构造、构造演化等始终不清楚。太平洋板块内部的复杂性更是未受到重视,其内部的大火成岩省、海山链、微洋块、微陆块及其下部更深层地幔的微幔块都非常发育,这些复杂板内或板下构造代表的地球动力学含义亟待解决。文章基于最新的板块重建结果,试图分析其运动学过程,揭示太平洋板块形成与演化机制。研究表明,太平洋板块起源于RRR三节点,但不是一个纯粹的完整大洋板块,其增生演化过程经历了非威尔逊旋回模式,其板缘经历了一些外来微陆块或微洋块的并入,其内部也因各种原因出现了一些新生微洋块,总体表现为一个碎片化的镶嵌式板内格局。太平洋板块记录了与邻区板块相互作用的重要构造事件,大约55 Ma左右开始俯冲到东亚陆缘,导致东亚陆缘短暂的北西-南东向伸展,随后受印度-欧亚碰撞动力系统和太平洋俯冲动力系统联合控制,总体处于右行右阶的拉分背景,形成了一系列盆地群,俯冲后撤等逐渐形成了双俯冲系统。太平洋板块还记录了深浅部耦合过程,下地幔中的太平洋LLSVP通过遥相关对上部岩石圈微板块、大火成岩省分布具有决定性作用;火山链或热点揭示板块运动同时,也反映深浅部物质交换过程,海山群也揭示太平洋板块之下软流圈并非单一对流胞,其对流格局的多样性尚待深入研究。      

Geochemistry of subducted metabasites exhumed from the Mariana forearc: Implications for Pacific seamount subduction

Seamounts on the drifting oceanic crust are inevitably carried by plate motions and eventually accreted or subducted. However, the geochemical signatures of the subducted seamounts and the significance of seamount subduction are not well constrained. Hundreds of seamounts have subducted beneath the Philippine Sea Plate following the westward subduction of the Pacific Plate since the Eocene (~52 Ma). The subducted oceanic crust and seamount materials can be exhumed from the mantle depth to the seafloor in the Mariana forearc region by serpentinite mud volcanoes, providing exceptional opportunities to directly study the subducted oceanic crust and seamounts. The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) expedition 366 has recovered a few metamorphosed mafic clasts exhumed from the Mariana forearc serpentinite mud volcanoes, e.g., the Fantangisña and Asùt Tesoru seamounts. These mafic clasts have tholeiitic to alkaline affinities with distinct trace elements and Nd-Hf isotopes characteristics, suggesting different provenances and mantle sources. The tholeiites from the Fantangisña Seamount have trace element characteristics typical of mid-ocean ridge basalt. The Pacific-type Hf-Nd isotopic compositions, combined with the greenschist metamorphism of these tholeiites further suggest that they came from the subducted Pacific oceanic crust. The alkali basalts-dolerites from the Fantangisña and Asùt Tesoru seamounts show ocean island basalt (OIB)-like geochemical characteristics. The OIB-like geochemical signatures and the low-grade metamorphism of these alkali basalts-dolerites suggest they came from subducted seamounts that originally formed in an intraplate setting on the Pacific Plate. The Pacific Plate origin of these metabasites suggests they were formed in the Early Cretaceous or earlier.Two types of OIBs have been recognized from alkali metabasites, one of which is geochemically similar to the HIMU-EMI-type OIBs from the West Pacific Seamount Province, and another is similar to the EMII-type OIBs from the Samoa Island in southern Pacific, with negative Nb-Ta-Ti anomalies and enriched Nd-Hf isotopes. Generally, these alkali metabasites are sourced from the heterogeneous mantle sources that are similar to the present South Pacific Isotopic and Thermal Anomaly. This study provides direct evidence for seamount subduction in the Mariana convergent margins. We suggest seamount subduction is significant to element cycling, mantle heterogeneity, and mantle oxidation in subduction zones.     

Geology and ages of porphyry and medium- to high-sulphidation epithermal gold deposits of the continental margin of Northeast China

The continental margin of Northeast China, an important part of the continental margin-related West Pacific metallogenic belt, hosts numerous types of gold-dominated mineral deposits. Based on ore deposit geology and isotopic dating, we have classified hydrothermal gold–copper ore deposits in this region into four distinct types: (1) gold-rich porphyry copper deposits, (2) gold-rich porphyry-like copper deposits, (3) medium-sulphidation epithermal copper–gold deposits, and (4) high-sulphidation epithermal gold deposits. These ore deposits formed during four distinct metallogenic stages or periods, at 123.6 ± 2.5 Ma, 110–104 Ma, 104–102 Ma, and 95.0 ± 2 Ma, corresponding to periods of Cretaceous intermediate–acid volcanism and late-stage emplacement of hypabyssal magmas along the northern margin of the North China platform. The earliest stage of mineralization (123.6 ± 2.5 Ma) corresponds to the formation of medium-sulphidation epithermal copper – gold deposits and was associated with a continental margin magmatic arc system linked to subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the Eurasia. This metallogenesis is closely related to high-K calc-alkaline intermediate–acid granite and pyroxene – diorite porphyry magmatism. The second and third stages of mineralization in the study area (110–104 Ma and 104–102 Ma, respectively) correspond to the formation of gold-rich porphyry copper, porphyry-like copper, and high-sulphidation gold deposits, with metallogenesis closely related to sodic or adakitic magmatism. These magmas formed in a continental margin magmatic arc system related to oblique subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the Eurasia, as well as mixing of crust-derived remelted granitic and mantle-derived adakitic magmas. During the final stage of mineralization (95.0 ± 2 Ma), metallogenesis was closely related to sodic or adakitic magmatism, with diagenesis and metallogenesis related to the disintegration or destruction of the Pacific Plate, which was subducted beneath the Eurasian Plate during the Mesozoic.     

West Pacific and North Indian Ocean Seafloor and Their Ocean-Continent Connection Zones: Evolution and Debates

The Indian Ocean and the West Pacific Ocean and their ocean-continent connection zones are the core area of "the Belt and Road". Scientific and in-depth recognition to the natural environment, disaster distribution, resources, energy potential of “the Belt and Road” development, is the cut-in point of the current Earth science community to serve urgent national needs. This paper mainly discusses the following key tectonic problems in the West Pacific and North Indian oceans and their ocean-continent connection zones (OCCZs): 1. modern marine geodynamic problems related to the two oceans. Based on the research and development needs to the two oceans and the ocean-continent transition zones, this item includes the following questions. (1) Plate origin, growth, death and evolution in the two oceans, for example, 1) The initial origin and process of the triangle Pacific Plate including causes and difference of the Galapagos and West Shatsky microplates; 2) spatial and temporal process, present status and trends of the plates within the Paleo- or Present-day Pacific Ocean to the evolution of the East Asian Continental Domain; 3) origin and evolution of the Indian Ocean and assembly and dispersal of supercontinents. (2) Latest research progress and problems of mid-oceanic ridges: 1) the ridge-hot spot interaction and ridge accretion, how to think about the relationship between vertical accretion behavior of thousands years or tens of thousands years and lateral spreading of millions years at 0 Ma mid-oceanic ridges; 2) the difference of formation mechanisms between the back-arc basin extension and the normal mid-oceanic ridge spreading; 3) the differentials between ultra-slow dian Ocean and the rapid Pacific spreading, whether there are active and passive spreading, and a push force in the mid-oceanic ridge; 4) mid-oceanic ridge jumping and termination: causes of the intra-oceanic plate reorganization, termination, and spatial jumps; 5) interaction of mantle plume and mid-oceanic ridge. (3) On the intra-oceanic subduction and tectonics: 1) the origin of intra-oceanic arc and subduction, ridge subduction and slab window on continental margins, transform faults and transform-type continental margin; 2) causes of the large igneous provinces, oceanic plateaus and seamount chains. (4) The oceanic core complex and rheology of oceanic crust in the Indian Ocean. (5) Advances on the driving force within oceanic plates, including mantle convection, negative buoyancy, trench suction and mid-oceanic ridge push, is reviewed and discussed. 2. The ocean-continent connection zones near the two oceans, including: (1) Property of continental margin basement: the crusts of the Okinawa Trough, the Okhotsk Sea, and east of New Zealand are the continental crusts or oceanic crusts, and origin of micro-continent within the oceans; (2) the ocean-continent transition and coupling process, revealing from the comparison of the major events between the West Pacific Ocean seamount chains and the continental margins, mantle exhumation and the ocean-continent transition zones, causes of transform fault within back-arc basin, formation and subduction of transform-type continental margin; (3) strike-slip faulting between the West Pacific Ocean and the East Asian Continent and its temporal and spatial range and scale; (4) connection between deep and surface processes within the two ocean and their connection zones, namely the assembly among the Eurasian, Pacific and India-Australia plates and the related effect from the deep mantle, lithosphere, to crust and surface Earth system, and some related issues within the connection zones of the two oceans under the super-convergent background. 3. On the relationship, especially their present relations and evolutionary trends, between the Paleo- or Present-day Pacific plates and the Tethyan Belt, the Eurasian Plate or the plates within the Indian Ocean. At last, this paper makes a perspective of the related marine geology, ocean-continent connection zone and in-depth geology for the two oceans and one zone.     

Geochronology of the Tore-Madeira Rise seamounts and surrounding areas: a review

We present new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar data for two of the Tore-Madeira Rise (TMR) volcanic seamounts. A sample from Tore East seamount on the northern part of the TMR yielded an ultra-precise age of 80.50 ± 0.13 Ma (2σ) that is similar within uncertainties to a published age obtained by U–Pb TIMS technique on titanites and zircons extracted from Tore NW seamount. Another sample from Isabelle seamount, located on the southern part of the TMR failed to produce a plateau age but yielded a minimum age estimate of >85 Ma. We filtered the published ages available on the TMR, the surrounding seamounts and the massifs of southwest Portugal to better understand the origin of this magmatic province. Together with this dataset, our new data suggest that: (1) a hypothetical Madeira hot-spot track spanning from Serra de Monchique on the continent to Madeira Archipelago is difficult to reconcile with the occurrence of several seamounts geographically located within or very close to this alleged hot-spot track yet being much older than the age predicted by the age trend.

(2) The geographical distribution and age pattern of the TMR and surrounding areas magmatism are still best explained by the interaction of a mantle melting anomaly emitting magma pulses and the different motion phases of the Iberia plate since 103 Ma.

     

DEEP TECTONOTHERMAL MECHANISM FOR THE TECTONIC EXTENSION OF THE EASTERN ASIAN CONTINENTAL MARGIN

The continental marginal extension concept developed by Chinese geologists recently may be applied to the explanation about the Cenozoic extension and divergent movement of the Eastern Asian continental margin. From the viewpoint of continental marginal extension, this paper discusses the deep tectonothermal mechanism of the tectonic extension of the Eastern Asian continental margin. The Eastern Asian continental margin is an extensional belt with intensive magmatism and structural deformation, geophysically characterized by continual earthquakes and obvious geothermal anomaly. Seismic tomographical results about the Eastern Asian continental margin imply that the Pacific Plate is subducted toward the Eurasian Plate at a low angle and the diving Pacific Plate lies on the surface of the 670-km phase transitional zone. We interpret this feature to be resulted from retrogressive subduction followed by continental marginal extension. Our thermal modeling and geodynamical computation results suggest that the retrogressive subduction occurred at about 76Ma and the withdrawal of the trench served to supply the volume for the continental growth, which led to the formation of the growing front of the Eastern Asian continental margin. The growth width of the Eastern Asian continental margin is about 700 km.     

Morphological characteristics and emplacement mechanism of the seamounts in the Central Indian Ocean Basin

The morphotectonic features of the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB) provide information regarding the development of the basin. Multibeam mapping of the CIOB reveals presence of abundant isolated seamounts and seamount chains sub-parallel to each other and major fracture zones along 73° E, 79° E and 75°45′ E. Morphological analyses were carried out for 200 seamounts that occur either as isolated edifies or along eight sub-parallel chains. The identified eight parallel seamount chains that trend almost north–south and reflecting the absolute motion of the Indian plate, probably originated from the ancient propagative fractures. Inspite of the differences in their height, the seamounts of these eight chains are morphologically correlatable. In the study area the seamounts are clustered north and south of 12° S latitude. Interestingly, in the area north of 12° S (area II: 9°–12° S) the seamounts are distinctly smaller (≤ 400 m height) whereas, the area south of 12° S (area I: 12°–15° S) has a mixed population of seamounts. The normalized abundance of the CIOB seamount is 976 seamounts/10⁶ km² but on a finer scale this value varies from 500 to 1600 seamounts/10⁶ km², which is less than the seamount concentrations of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans (9000 to 16,000 seamounts/10⁶ km²). Three categories of seamounts are present in the CIOB e.g. (1) single-peaked (2) multi-peaked and (3) composite. The study indicate that single-peaked seamounts are dominant (89%) while multi-peaked is less (8%) and composite ones are rare (3%) in the CIOB.The progressive northward movement of the Indian continent caused collision between India and Asia at around 62 Ma ago. A majority of the near-axis originated seamounts in the CIOB seemed to have formed as a consequence of the temporally widespread (Cretaceous  65 Ma to late Eocene < 49 Ma) collision between India and Eurasia. The regional stress patterns in the Indian plate vary N to NE in the continent and N to NW in Indian Ocean areas. The combined effect of the regional stress patterns maintained the orientation of the seamount chains and the local stress regime helped in the upwelling of magma and formation of seamounts. The low heat flow, morphological features and geochemical signature indicate that the morphotectonic structures formed contemporaneously with the oceanic crust.     

Structures,uplift, and magmatism of the Western Myanmar Arc: Constraints to mid-Cretaceous-Paleogene tectonic evolution of the western Myanmar continental margin

Knowledge of Trans-Himalayan tectono-magmatic evolution is critical to understanding the complex pre-collisional history of southern Eurasia active continental margin. It has been proposed that magmatic rocks of the Trans-Himalayan batholith, extending from southern Tibet to Southeast Asia, are now exposed as the Western Myanmar Arc and Central Granite Belt in Myanmar, yet origin, emplacement, and relationships of the two juxtaposed belts remain poorly constrained. In this study, 2D seismic and drilling data for the Western Myanmar Arc, zircon U-Pb age and Hf isotope and whole-rock geochemical data for magmatic rocks from the arc have been applied. Our seismic profiles, borehole stratigraphic sequences and zircon U-Pb data show that a typical arc-basin system was well developed along the western Myanmar continental margin. The magmatic arc has experienced at least three igneous events in the mid-Cretaceous (110–90 Ma), latest Cretaceous-Early Paleocene (69–64.5 Ma) and Eocene (53–38 Ma), as well as three associated uplift processes in the Late Cretaceous, Eocene and Late Oligocene. Whole-rock geochemical characteristics and zircons showing variable but predominately positive ε_Hf(t) values, suggest a significant juvenile mantle source involving a proportion of ancient subducted sediments and juvenile crustal materials for these typical arc-related magmatic rocks. The identification of mid-Cretaceous to Paleogene magmatic rocks having positive ε_Hf(t) values from the Western Myanmar Arc: 1) indicates that the magmatism can be correlated with the Gangdese arc within the Lhasa terrane of the southern Tibetan Plateau; 2) provides evidence for the proximal-derived model that Paleogene sediments in the Central Myanmar Basin were from the Western Myanmar Arc, but were not delivered by the paleo-Yarlung Tsangpo-Irrawaddy river system from the Gangdese arc; and 3) enables a model of eastward subduction of the Neo-Tethyan/Indian oceanic crust to reflect onset of the magmatism at the mid-Cretaceous and a long-existed back-arc extension in western Myanmar.     

Two stages of granite formation in the Sredinny Range, Kamchatka: Tectonic and geodynamic setting of granitic rocks

The newly formed continental crust in southern Kamchatka was created as a result of the Eocene collision of the Cretaceous-Paleocene Achaivayam-Valagin island arc and the northeastern Asian margin. Widespread migmatization and granite formation accompanied this process in the Sredinny Range of Kamchatka. The tectonic setting and composition of granitic rocks in the Malka Uplift of the Sredinny Range are characterized in detail, and the U-Pb (SHRIMP) zircon ages are discussed. Two main stages of granite formation—Campanian (80–78 Ma ago) and Eocene (52 ± 2 Ma ago) have been established. It may be suggested that granite formation in the Campanian was related to the partial melting of the accretionary wedge due to its under-plating by mafic material or to plunging of the oceanic ridge beneath the accretionary wedge. The Eocene granitic rocks were formed owing to the collision of the Achaivayam-Valagin ensimatic island arc with the Kamchatka margin of Eurasia. In southern Kamchatka (Malka Uplift of the Sredinny Range), the arc-continent collision started 55–53 Ma ago. As a result, the island-arc complexes were thrust over terrigenous sequences of the continental margin. The thickness of the allochthon was sufficient to plunge the autochthon to a considerable depth. The autochthon and the lower portion of the allochthon underwent high-grade metamorphism followed by partial melting and emplacement of granitic magma 52 ± 2 Ma ago. The anomalously rapid heating of the crust was probably caused by the ascent of asthenospheric magma initiated by slab breakoff, while the Eurasian Plate plunged beneath the Achaivayam-Valagin arc.     

40Ar/39Ar dating constraints on the high-angle normal faulting along the southern segment of the Tan-Lu fault system: An implication for the onset of eastern China rift-systems

High-angle normal faulting in eastern China was an important tectonic process responsible for the rifting of the eastern Asian continental margin. Along the southern segment of the Tan-Lu fault system, part of the eastern China rift-system, 55–70° east-dipping normal faults are the oldest structures within this rift-system. Chlorite, pseudotachylite, and fault breccia are found in fault zones, which are characterized by microstructures and syn-deformation chlorite minerals aligned parallel to a down-dip stretching lineation. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of syn-deformation chlorite and K-feldspar from the fault gouge zone yields cooling ages of ～75–70 Ma, interpreted as the timing of slip along the normal faults. This age is older than that of opening of the Japanese sea and back-arc extension in the west Pacific, but similar to the onset of the Indo-Asian (soft?) collision.     

Discovery of Late Jurassic fossils inside modern sediments at Gorringe Bank (Eastern Atlantic Ocean) and some geological implications.

During a recent expedition at the Gorringe Bank (eastern Atlantic, 150 miles SW off Portugal), one of the rare sites in the ocean where mantle rocks crop out at very shallow depths (? 30 m), the Gettysburg and Ormonde seamounts, the two summits on the Gorringe Bank, were surveyed in detail. At Gettysburg seamount, within the modern bioclastic material, which is continually produced on the summit and exported to deep water, several examples of Mesozoic cephalopods were found. These fossils, reworked ‘in situ’, gave an age spanning from Kimmeridgian–Tithonian to Hauterivian (145–155 Ma) and recall some condensed Jurassic sequences of the Thetyan region compatible with shallow water (< 200 m). The serendipitous discovery of such ancient faunas within modern sediments suggests that Gorringe Bank was a seamount at the early opening of the Atlantic Ocean and requires us to reassess the age of rifting along the Iberian margin and the importance of vertical tectonics for non‐volcanic, mantle‐rooted seamounts.     

Re–Os Geochronology of Molybdenite from Yinyan Porphyry Sn Deposit in South China

The Yinyan Sn deposit, one of the three typical porphyry Sn deposits in China, is located in the western Guangdong province of the Cathaysia Block. Rhenium and osmium isotopes of molybdenites from the Yinyan deposit were first used to constrain the age of mineralization. Rhenium concentrations in molybdenite samples range from 0.13 to 1.3 µg g^?1, indicating a crustal source for the ore‐forming materials. The Re–Os dating yield model ages ranging from 78.1 to 79.52 Ma, with an average of 78.65 ± 0.98 Ma, and give an isochron age of 78.8 ± 2.6 Ma. Evidently, isochron age is consistent with model ages in the error within the allowable range, so we can constrain the precise age of Yinyan Sn deposit at the Late Cretaceous. Based on the geological history and spatial‐temporal distribution of the Sn deposits, it is proposed that the formation of Sn deposits in the Cathaysia Block were related to lithospheric extension that are associated with a change in the polarity of the subduction of the Paleo‐Pacific Plate from oblique subduction to parallel the eastern margin of the Eurasian Plate after 135 Ma.     

Age and geochemistry of volcanic rocks from the Hikurangi and Manihiki oceanic Plateaus

Here we present the first radiometric age data and a comprehensive geochemical data set (including major and trace element and Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf isotope ratios) for samples from the Hikurangi Plateau basement and seamounts on and adjacent to the plateau obtained during the R/V Sonne 168 cruise, in addition to age and geochemical data from DSDP Site 317 on the Manihiki Plateau. The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age and geochemical data show that the Hikurangi basement lavas (118-96 Ma) have surprisingly similar major and trace element and isotopic characteristics to the Ontong Java Plateau lavas (ca. 120 and 90 Ma), primarily the Kwaimbaita-type composition, whereas the Manihiki DSDP Site 317 lavas (117 Ma) have similar compositions to the Singgalo lavas on the Ontong Java Plateau. Alkalic, incompatible-element-enriched seamount lavas (99-87 Ma and 67 Ma) on the Hikurangi Plateau and adjacent to it (Kiore Seamount), however, were derived from a distinct high time-integrated U/Pb (HIMU)-type mantle source. The seamount lavas are similar in composition to similar-aged alkalic volcanism on New Zealand, indicating a second wide-spread event from a distinct source beginning ca. 20 Ma after the plateau-forming event. Tholeiitic lavas from two Osbourn seamounts on the abyssal plain adjacent to the northeast Hikurangi Plateau margin have extremely depleted incompatible element compositions, but incompatible element characteristics similar to the Hikurangi and Ontong Java Plateau lavas and enriched isotopic compositions intermediate between normal mid-ocean-ridge basalt (N-MORB) and the plateau basement. These younger (∼52 Ma) seamounts may have formed through remelting of mafic cumulate rocks associated with the plateau formation. The similarity in age and geochemistry of the Hikurangi, Ontong Java and Manihiki Plateaus suggest derivation from a common mantle source. We propose that the Greater Ontong Java Event, during which ∼1% of the Earth’s surface was covered with volcanism, resulted from a thermo-chemical superplume/dome that stalled at the transition zone, similar to but larger than the structure imaged presently beneath the South Pacific superswell. The later alkalic volcanism on the Hikurangi Plateau and the Zealandia micro-continent may have been part of a second large-scale volcanic event that may have also triggered the final breakup stage of Gondwana, which resulted in the separation of Zealandia fragments from West Antarctica.     

Growth of the Afanasy Nikitin seamount and its relationship with the 85°E Ridge,northeastern Indian Ocean

The Afanasy Nikitin seamount (ANS) is a major structural feature (400 km-long and 150 km-wide) in the Central Indian Basin, situated at the southern end of the so-called 85°E Ridge. Combined analyses of new multibeam bathymetric, seismic reflection and geochronological data together with previously described magnetic data provide new insights into the growth of the ANS through time, and its relationship with the 85°E Ridge. The ANS comprises a main plateau, rising 1200 m above the surrounding ocean floor (4800 m), and secondary elevated seamount highs, two of which (lie at 1600 and 2050 m water depths) have the morphology of a guyot, suggesting that they were formed above or close to sea-level. An unbroken sequence of spreading anomalies 34 through 32n.1 identified over the ANS reveal that the main plateau of the ANS was formed at 80–73 Ma, at around the same time as that of the underlying oceanic crust. The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dates for two basalt samples dredged from the seamount highs are consistent, within error, at 67 Ma. These results, together with published results of late Cretaceous to early Cenozoic Indian Ocean plate reconstructions, indicate that the Conrad Rise hotspot emplaced both the main plateau of the ANS and Conrad Rise (including the Marion Dufresne, Ob and Lena seamounts) at 80–73 Ma, close to the India–Antarctica Ridge system. Subsequently, the seamount highs were formed by late-stage volcanism c. 6–13 Myr after the main constructional phase of the seamount plateau. Flexural analysis indicates that the main plateau and seamount highs of the ANS are consistent with Airy-type isostatic compensation, which suggest emplacement of the entire seamount in a near spreading-center setting. This is contrary to the flexural compensation of the 85°E Ridge further north, which is interpreted as being emplaced in an intraplate setting, i.e., 25–35 Myr later than the underlying oceanic crust. Therefore, we suggest that the ANS and the 85°E Ridge appear to be unrelated as they were formed by different mantle sources, and that the proximity of the southern end of the 85°E Ridge to the ANS is coincidental.     

Cratonic reactivation and orogeny: An example from the northern margin of the North China Craton

Reactivation of cratonic basement involves a number of processes including extension, compression, and/or lithospheric delamination. The northern margin of the North China Craton (NCC), adjacent to the Inner Mongolian Orogenic Belt, was reactivated in the Late Paleozoic to Early Mesozoic. During this period, the northern margin of the NCC underwent magmatism, N–S compression, regional exhumation, and uplift, including the formation of E–W-trending thick-skinned and thin-skinned south-verging folds and south-verging ductile shear zones. zircon U–Pb SHRIMP ages for mylonite protoliths in shear zones which show ages of 310–290 Ma (mid Carboniferous–Early Permian), constraining the earliest possible age of deformation. Muscovite within carbonate and quartz–feldspar–muscovite mylonites from the Kangbao–Weichang and Fengning–Longhua shear zones defines a stretching lineation and gives ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of 270–250 Ma, 250–230 Ma, 230–210 Ma, and 210–190 Ma. Deformation developed progressively from north to south between the Late Paleozoic and Triassic. Exhumation of lower crustal gneisses, high-pressure granulites, and granites occurred at the cratonic margin during post-ductile shearing (~ 220–210 Ma). An undeformed Early Jurassic (190–180 Ma) conglomerate overlies the deformed rocks and provides an upper age limit for reactivation and orogenesis. Deformation was induced by convergence between the southern Mongolia and North China cratonic blocks, and the location of this convergent belt controlled later deformation in the Yanshan Tectonic Province. This province formed as older E–W-trending Archean–Proterozoic sequences were reactivated along the northern margin of the NCC. This reactivation has features typical of cratonic basement reactivation: compression, crustal thickening, remelting of the mid to lower crust, and subsequent orogenesis adjacent to the orogenic belt.     

Tertiary evolution of the Eastern Indonesia Collision Complex

Eastern Indonesia is the zone of interaction between three converging megaplates: Eurasia, the Pacific and Indo-Australia. The geological basis for interpretations of the Tertiary tectonic evolution of Eastern Indonesia is reviewed, and a series of plate tectonic reconstructions for this region at 5 million year intervals covering the last 35 million years is presented.The oldest reconstruction predates the onset of regional collisional deformation. At this time a simple plate configuration is interpreted, consisting of the northward-moving Australian continent approaching an approximately E–W oriented, southward-facing subduction zone extending from the southern margin of the Eurasian continent eastwards into the Pacific oceanic domain. Beginning at about 30 Ma the Australian continental margin commenced collision with the subduction zone along its entire palinspastically-restored northern margin, from Sulawesi in the west to Papua New Guinea in the east. From this time until ca 24 Ma, the Australian continent indented the former arc trend, with the northward convergence of Australia absorbed at the palaeo-northern boundary of the Philippine Sea Plate (the present-day Palau-Kyushu Ridge).At ca 24 Ma the present-day pattern of oblique convergence between the northern margin of Australia and the Philippine Sea Plate began to develop. At about this time a large portion of the Palaeogene colliding volcanic arc (the future eastern Philippines) began to detach from the northern continental margin by left-lateral strike slip. From ca 18 Ma oblique southward-directed subduction commenced at the Maramuni Arc in northern New Guinea. At ca 12 Ma the Sorong Fault Zone strike-slip system developed, effectively separating the Philippines from the Indonesian tectonic domain. The Sorong Fault Zone became inactive at ca 6 Ma, since which time the tectonics of eastern Indonesia has been dominated by the anticlockwise rotation of the Bird’s Head structural block by some 30–40°.Contemporaneously with post-18 Ma tectonism, the Banda Arc subduction–collision system developed off the northwestern margin of the Australian continent. Convergence between Indo-Australia and Eurasia was accommodated initially by northward subduction of the Indian Ocean, and subsequently, since ca 8 Ma, by the development of a second phase of arc-continent collision around the former passive continental margin of NW Australia.     

Tectonic implications of Re-Os dating of molybdenum deposits in the Tianshan–Xingmeng Orogenic Belt,Central Asia

The Tianshan–Xingmeng molybdenum belt is part of a larger E–W-trending metallogenic belt in northern China. Most of these molybdenum deposits occur as porphyry or porphyry-skarn type, but there are also some vein-type deposits. Following systematic Re-Os dating of molybdenite from four deposits and comparisons with two previously dated deposits, we conclude that molybdenum mineralization in the Tianshan–Xingmeng Orogenic Belt resulted from hydrothermal activity linked to the emplacement of granitoid stocks. Three pulses of granitoid magmatism and Mo mineralization have been recognized in this study, corresponding to tectonic events in the Tianshan–Xingmeng Orogenic Belt. We identify five distinct stages of Mo mineralization events in the Tianshan–Xingmeng Orogenic Belt: 320–250 Ma, 250–200 Ma, 190–155 Ma, 155–140 Ma, and 140–120 Ma. Late Palaeozoic (320–250 Ma) Mo mineralization was closely related to closure of the Palaeo-Asian Ocean and collision between the Siberia and Tarim cratons. Triassic (250–200 Ma) Mo mineralization occurred in a post-collisional tectonic setting. The Early–Middle Jurassic (190–155 Ma) Mo mineralization was related to subduction of the Palaeo-Pacific Ocean on the eastern Asian continental margin, whereas in the Erguna block, the Mo mineralization events were associated with the subduction of the Mongol–Okhotsk Ocean. From 155 to 120 Ma, large-scale continental extension occurred in the Tianshan–Xingmeng Orogenic Belt and surrounding regions. However, the Late Jurassic (150–140 Ma) Mo mineralization events in these areas evolved in a post-orogenic extensional environment of the Mongol–Okhotsk Ocean subduction system. The Early Cretaceous (140–120 Ma) Mo mineralization occurred under the combined effects of the closure of the Mongol–Okhotsk Ocean and subduction of the Palaeo-Pacific Ocean.     

Continental response to mid-Cretaceous global plate reorganization: Evidence from the Tan–Lu Fault Zone,eastern China

Investigation of the ~2400-km-long Tan–Lu Fault Zone (TLFZ) in eastern China is the key to understanding how the Izanagi Plate in the western Pacific Basin and the East Asian continental margin responded to global plate reorganization during the mid-Cretaceous. We present new structural and geochronological data to show that the central segment of the NNE–SSW-striking TLFZ underwent a phase of sinistral transpression after the Early Cretaceous rifting. The resultant strike-slip structures are ductile shear belts in the south of the segment and brittle faults in the north. Quartz c-axis fabrics and other microstructures indicate deformation temperatures of 350–500 °C in different parts of the shear belts. The brittle faults were associated with the formation of NE–SW-trending folds and an angular unconformity between Lower and Upper Cretaceous volcanic or sedimentary rocks. Fault-slip data indicate that sinistral faulting was the result of NS compression. UPb dating constrains the timing of sinistral faulting between 97 and 82 Ma (early Late Cretaceous). Integration of these and existing data demonstrates that the entire TLFZ underwent sinistral displacement at the beginning of the Late Cretaceous, consistent with continental-scale NS compression in eastern China. Such compression in the overriding plate was caused by rapid oblique subduction of the Izanagi Plate and reflected global plate reorganization at this time. Both the changes in the kinematics of the Izanagi Plate and the resultant variation of stress states in the continental margin around the mid-Cretaceous are ascribed to this plate reorganization.     

The origin of Bahia seamounts (Brazil Basin,South Atlantic) in connection to new data on their age

Micropalentological studies of limestones and isotopic-geochronological determinations of the age of zircons found in vulcanites dredged from the region of the northern chain of the group of Bahia seamounts in the 28th cruise of the R/V Akademik Vavilov were undertaken. The recognized age difference of the northern chain of the Bahia seamounts of northwestern strike from 75 to 84 Ma from the southeast to the northwest indicates the fact that this chain was formed as a result of hot spot activity. The age of vulcanites is in good correlation with the Maastricht and Coniacian-Santonian age of limestones occurring on the slopes of the seamounts. The similarity of the seamounts age and the age of the oceanic bottom indicates the fact that the hot spot was localized near the spreading axial zone of the MAR. Along the strike of the chain, the centers of volcanic activity are correlated to the zones of transform faults, which are important in the hot spot activation. The formed chain is a weak zone in the lithosphere and the focus of younger stages of volcanic activity; there were at least two of stages within the northern chain of the Bahia seamounts, and these occurred about 75 and 59 Ma ago.     

Late Miocene to Early Pliocene blueschist from Taiwan and its exhumation via forearc extraction

Blueschist facies rocks in the Yuli Belt of Taiwan's Central Range record ongoing subduction of the Eurasian plate. We present a prograde Lu–Hf garnet–whole‐rock age of 5.1 ± 1.7 Ma from a retrogressed blueschist in the Yuli Belt. This age is considerably younger than the previously assumed age of 14–8 Ma for high‐pressure metamorphism in the Yuli Belt and represents the youngest Lu–Hf garnet age ever recorded for blueschist facies metamorphism. The age sheds new light on the palaeogeographic origin and exhumation scenario of the Yuli Belt. We propose that the Yuli Belt originated from the ocean–continent boundary of the Chinese passive margin. It was subducted eastward during collision with the Luzon island arc and rapidly exhumed when the forearc lithosphere was removed from above the continental slab by discrete subduction (extraction). This process reduces the pressure above the continental slab and may prompt the ascent of subducted crust into the opening gap. Thus, it can control the exhumation of high‐pressure rocks.