Layered intrusions – a fluid situation?

Recent research into layered intrusions (intrusive bodies in which there are layers of different mineralogical composition) provides an interesting example of 'role–reversal'. Traditionally, crystal settling has been regarded as the main agent of differentiation, with magma convection as a useful subsidiary factor. Now the behaviour of the fluid phase – before, during and after the main crystallisation period – is assuming increasing importance, even to the extent of eliminating the need for crystal settling altogether. The 'new wave' of ideas is stimulating and challenging, but by no means sounds the death–knell of conventional magmatic sedimentation.     

广东梅州早侏罗世层状基性-超基性岩体研究

以往主要依据地球化学证据推断东南沿海中生代存在地幔富集作用 ,但缺乏可靠的地质学证据。运用全岩 +单矿物 (斜长石和辉石 )Rb Sr等时线法 ,测得梅州辉长岩 橄榄岩岩体中辉长岩的年龄为 178.71±3 .9Ma ,( 87Sr 86 Sr) i 值为 0 .70 5 5 5 8,εSr(t)值为 17.87～ 18.16;3个辉长岩样品的 ( 1 43Nd 1 44 Nd) i 值为 0 .5 12 641～0 .5 12 665 ,εNd(t)值为 0 .4 3～ 0 .95 ,表明其源区为类似原始地幔的弱富集型地幔 ,从而首次得到了中生代存在富集地幔的地质学证据。中生代基性岩类地球化学性质的变化表明 ,大约在中侏罗世早期 ( 164～ 165Ma) ,东南沿海进入太平洋构造域     

The geochemistry of Jurassic dolerites from Portal Peak,Antarctica

Geochemical and isotopic analyses have been performed on a suite of samples from a Jurassic quartz tholeiite sill of the Ferrar Group at Portal Peak, Queen Alexandra Range, near the Beardmore Glacier in Antarctica. The data include major and trace element (XRF and INAA) concentrations, as well as Sr and Nd isotopic compositions, and are combined with the results of other studies on samples from Antarctica. It is demonstrated that despite differences in the pre-intrusion (or eruption) evolution of the Ferrar Group magmas, the similarity in isotopic and chemical compositions for these rocks supports the existence of a remarkably uniform mantle source with unusual signature over a distance of thousands of kilometres. The favoured origin of this source involves the subduction of terrestrial sedimentary material into a depleted mantle reservoir.     

Occurrence and Dispersal of Magmas in the Jurassic Ferrar Large Igneous Province, Antarctica

Tholeiitic rocks of the Ferrar Large Igneous Province (FLIP) occur in a linear belt from the Theron Mountains to Horn Bluff in the Transantarctic Mountains and extend into southeastern Australasia. The FLIP was emplaced during the initial stages of Gondwana break-up from a source suggested to be in the proto-Weddell Sea region. Magma transport from its source (Weddell triple junction) was controlled by an Early Jurassic zone of extension. The FLIP comprises the Dufek intrusion, Ferrar Dolerite sills and dykes (sheet intrusions), and extrusive rocks consisting of pyroclastic strata overlain by Kirkpatrick Basalt lavas. The Dufek intrusion occurs in deformed supracrustal rocks of the foldbelt along the paleo-Pacific Gondwana margin. A few sills were emplaced in basement rocks, but the majority of the sheet intrusions occur in flat-lying Devonian to Triassic Beacon strata. Only in the central Transantarctic Mountains (CTM) and south and north Victoria Land (SVL, NVL) are extrusive rocks preserved overlying Beacon strata. The greatest cumulative thicknesses of magmatic rocks (ca. 2 km) occur in areas where lavas are preserved (CTM and SVL). Sheet intrusions have complex relationships. Dyke swarms (sensu stricto) are unknown and dykes cutting basement rocks are uncommon. Nevertheless, these dykes, including a 30-m-wide dyke in SVL, suggest that some magmas locally migrated up through basement rocks. In CTM and NVL the outcrop belt has a width of about 160 km. Sills originally extended farther toward the plate margin but have been cut out by erosion and Cenozoic faulting, most clearly in CTM; geophysical data suggest extension under the East Antarctic ice sheet for at least 100 km. Although Early Jurassic extension is documented in CTM, major rift-bounding faults have not been observed. Models for magma emplacement include transport along the axis of the Transantarctic Mountains and off-axis transport from major rift-bounding faults. Contrasts in geochemistry between lavas of NVL (MgO=67%) and CTM (MgO=24%) and the presence of massive dolerite bodies (CTM, SVL) suggest discrete episodes and locations of magma emplacement, and that there was no long range interconnection along the mountain range in supracrustal rocks.     

Facies and depositional processes in an Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous pelagic sedimentary sequence, Antarctica

The Nordenskjöld Formation (?Oxfordian-Berriasian age) is exposed on the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, where it consists of interbedded ash layers and biosiliceous mudstones which accumulated under anaerobic to dysaerobic bottom waters. The mudstones were deposited by pelagic settling and the ash layers by pelagic settling from suspension or as fallout from subaerial eruption columns. The lower part of the succession accumulated in a basinal setting under anaerobic bottom waters and is characterized by parallel bedding. Mudstones deposited in this setting preserve abundant zooplankton faecel pellets. Compaction of these pellets has given rise to a bedding parallel fissility. The upper part of the succession accumulated under dysaerobic bottom waters in a slope setting. The sequence is wavy bedded and contains abundant evidence of post-depositional sediment instability and resedimentation, much of which was caused by tectonic activity. Discrete slide masses are absent from the slope sequence and it appears that slope processes were dominated by creep. Examination of the mudstones shows that as levels of dissolved oxygen in bottom waters increase, pelleted mudstones give way to structureless mudstones before visible bioturbation is noted.     

Geochemical Characteristics of Jurassic Plume Magmatism in Ahlmannryggen Massif (Queen Maud Land,East Antarctica)

Doklady Earth Sciences - The Mesozoic dykes related to the distribution of Karoo plume on the territory of East Antarctica are studied. It is shown that magnesian high-Ti ferrobasalts are found in...     

Petrology and geochemistry of Jurassic basalt dykes from Vestfjella, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica

Mineral and whole rocks analyses of 12 Jurassic basalt dykes from Vestfjella, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, are presented, and their genesis discussed. On the basis of major oxides and norms the basalts may be classified as olivine and quartz tholeiites. Plotted in the Plag---Cpx---(Opx + 4Q) and Ol---Plag---Q projections, the compositions are most compatible with fractional crystallization of olivine, clinopyroxene and plagioclase from a basalt liquid at very low pressure. The ratios between strongly incompatible elements such as Rb, Cs, Zr, Hf, Ta and Th vary considerably, and petrographic mixing calculations give poor fits with respect to Rb, Cs, Ta, Th and light REE. Initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶ Sr ratios range between 0.70347 and 0.70687, and show no correlation with Rb/Sr or any other SIE ratios. The trace element and Sr isotope data thus do not suggest any simple cogenetic petrogenetic model. It is concluded that the basalt melts most plausibly have been contaminated by, or mixed with anatectic melts of crustal material, rather than reflecting mantle heterogeneity.     

Flood Basalts of Vestfjella: Jurassic Magmatism Across an Archaean-Proterozoic Lithospheric Boundary in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica

Continental flood basalts (CFBs) of Jurassic age make up theVestfjella mountains of western Dronning Maud Land and demonstratean Antarctic extension of the Karoo large igneous province.A detailed geochemical study of the 120-km-long Vestfjella rangeshows the CFB suite to consist mainly of three intercalatedbasaltic rock types designated CT1, CT2 and CT3 (chemical types1, 2 and 3) that exhibit different incompatible trace elementratios. CT1 and CT2 of north Vestfjella record wide ranges ofNd and Sr isotopic compositions with initial     

Palaeomagnetic results from the ca. 1130 Ma Borgmassivet intrusions in the Ahlmannryggen region of Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, and tectonic implications

Detailed palaeomagnetic and rock magnetic analyses provide improved palaeomagnetic results from 23 sites in the Borgmassivet intrusions in the Ahlmannryggen region of Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. These intrusions are of similar age to their host, the ca. 1130 Ma Ritscherflya Supergroup (RSG). A mean direction of D=235.4°, I=−7.6° with k=45.9 and α₉₅=4.5° was obtained from this study. When combined with previously reported results from 11 sites in the same region, including sites from the Ritscherflya Supergroup, it gives an overall mean direction for 34 sites from the igneous suite with D=236.5°, I=−3.6°, k=27.9 and α₉₅=4.8°. Isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM) experiments on several specimens suggest magnetite or titanomagnetite as the primary remanence carrier, while high temperature magnetic susceptibility experiments indicate the presence of single domain particles. These observations, together with field evidence and the high coercivities and unblocking temperatures, support a primary origin for the observed characteristic remanence. The Borgmassivet palaeomagnetic pole lies at 54.5°E, 8.3°N with A₉₅=3.3°. If Antarctica is moved to its Gondwanan position adjacent to southeast Africa, the Borgmassivet pole (BM) coincides with that of the African well-established, well-dated (1100 Ma) Umkondo Large Igneous Province pole, supporting the hypothesis that the Grunehogna craton of Dronning Maud Land was part of the Kalahari craton of southern Africa at ca. 1100 Ma.     

Pingos in Antarctica

Pingos, or ice-cored mounds, are described for the first time from Antarctica and for the first time on ice-cored moraine. Seven pingos up to 4 m high and 12 m in diameter occur on former dering of lakes on the moraine exposes water-saturated sediments to freezing and consequent lake sediments on Flanders Moraine, Vestfold Hills, Antarctica (68°40'S 78°00'E). Lateral wandering formation of closed-system pingos. The pingos are probably only a few hundred years old. The apparent absence of pingo scars in the Southern Hemisphere may be due to lack of suitable substrates, rather than to unsuitable climatic conditions.     

吉黑东部两类侏罗纪长英质岩体的成因及成矿潜力分析：以东宁和福洞岩体为例

中国东北地区处于古亚洲洋构造域和古太平洋构造域的结合部位,地质演化历史复杂,岩浆构造活动发育。本文选取吉黑东部延边地区的东宁、福洞两个侏罗纪岩体,对其成因及成矿潜力进行了分析。研究表明,东宁花岗岩(198.6±2.6 Ma)具有较高的SiO2含量和较低的MgO含量,富集LILEs和LREEs,亏损HFSEs和HREEs,此外显示亏损的Hf同位素组成(εHf(198.6 Ma)=+1.0^+6.0),具有较高的锆石饱和温度(796~902℃),推测其为玄武质岩浆底侵新生下地壳发生部分熔融而成。福洞黑云母石英闪长岩(173.6±2.8 Ma)和其内部的暗色包体(173.8±7.4 Ma)形成年龄一致,但具有不同的Hf同位素组成,表明福洞岩体为壳幔两端元岩浆混合成因。东宁和福洞岩体的形成与古太平洋板块在侏罗纪时期向东亚大陆边缘俯冲有关,分别代表了地壳重熔和地壳增生的两种过程。与中亚造山带内大型斑岩型矿床的成矿岩浆相比,延边地区的岩体普遍具有较低的锆石Ce4+/Ce3+比值,指示岩浆偏低的氧逸度可能是导致区内不发育大规模斑岩成矿的制约因素。     

Numerical simulation of thermoremanent magnetization in intrusions

This paper is devoted to the possibility of inverse remanent magnetization that is acquired in intrusive rocks due to a magnetic field that is produced by a sum of the normal core field and an anomalous effect induced by solidified rocks. A computer program has been created to simulate the process of solidification of intrusive body rocks from its edges to the center. The computing results showed the possibility of remanent magnetization that is acquired, which can have a different direction as compared to the external magnetic field, up to the inverse one.     

Appinitic intrusions in the English Lake District

Summary Within the Skiddaw Group, which underlies the mid-Ordovician volcanic arc of the English Lake District, are minor intrusions of calc-alkaline, hornblende-augite rich, dioritic to picritic bodies reminiscent of the appinite suite of the Scottish Caledonides. Representative of these is the Scawgill Bridge microdiorite, a variable, hornblendic body which includes augite-phyric meladiorite and pyroxenite; others include the picrtte (augite-meladiorite or cortlandtite) plugs at Dash and Barkbeth. They are distinct from tholeiitic intrusions of similar age represented by the Embleton Diorite, and also from late Silurian biotite-lamprophyres. Despite alteration, primary variation trends indicated by immobile trace elements are also expressed by major elements including Mg, Fe and Ca. Differentiation at Scawgill Bridge is modelled as fractionation of olivine, augite, hornblende and chromite, and a similar process is inferred for the meladiorite intrusions. It is concluded these bodies represent primitive, calc-alkaline magmas related to the Lower Borrowdale Volcanic Group, which fractionated under confined conditions of high P(inH2o). In contrast, the Lower Borrowdale Volcanic Group itself is dominated by plagiophyric rocks which resulted from fractionation at lower P(inH2O).

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Appinitische Intrusionen im englischen Lake District

Zusammenfassung Die Skiddaw-Gruppe im Liegenden des mittelordovizischen Vulkanbogens des englischen Lake District enthält kleinere Intrusionen von kalkalkalischen, HornblendeAugit-reichen, dioritischen bis pikritischen Magmen, die an das Appinit-Vorkommen in den schottischen Kaledoniden erinnern. Für diese Intrusionen ist der Scawgill Bridge-Mikrodiorit repräsentativ. Er stellt einen variablen, Hornblende-reichen Körper mit Einschlüssen von Augit-porphyrischem Meladiorit und Pyroxenit dar; zu den anderen gehören die pikritischen (Augit-Meladiorit oder Cortlandit) Stöcke bei Dash und Barkbeth. Sie unterscheiden sich von tholeiitischen Intrusionen gleichen Alters, die durch den Embleton-Diorit vertreten sind, und auch von den spätsilurischen Biotit-Lamprophyren. Trotz Alteration werden primäre Korrelationen, die durch immobile Spurenelemente angezeigt werden, auch von Hauptelementen einschließlich Mg, Fe und Ca nachgezeichnet. Die Differentiation bei Scawgill Bridge wird als eine Fraktionierung von Olivin, Augit, Hornblende und Chromit modelliert, und ein ähnlicher Prozeß wird für die Meladiorit-Intrusion angenommen. Daraus wird geschlossen, daß diese Körper primitive, kalkalkalische Magmen repräsentieren, die zur Unteren Borrowdale Volcanic Group gehören und die unter hohem P_H2O fraktionierten. Im Gegensatz dazu wird die Untere Borrowdale Volcanic Group selbst von plagiophyrischen Gesteinen dominiert, die durch Fraktionierung unter niedrigem P(inH2O) entstanden sind.

     

Early-Middle Jurassic Dolerite Dykes from Western Dronning Maud Land (Antarctica): Identifying Mantle Sources in the Karoo Large Igneous Province

A suite of dolerite dykes from the Ahlmannryggen region of westernDronning Maud Land (Antarctica) forms part of the much moreextensive Karoo igneous province of southern Africa. The dykecompositions include both low- and high-Ti magma types, includingpicrites and ferropicrites. New ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age determinationsfor the Ahlmannryggen intrusions indicate two ages of emplacementat 178 and 190 Ma. Four geochemical groups of dykes have beenidentified in the Ahlmannryggen region based on analyses of60 dykes. The groups are defined on the basis of whole-rockTiO₂ and Zr contents, and reinforced by rare earth element (REE),⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd isotope data. Group 1 were intrudedat 190 Ma and have low TiO₂ and Zr contents and a significantArchaean crustal component, but also evidence of hydrothermalalteration. Group 2 dykes were intruded at 178 Ma; they havelow to moderate TiO₂ and Zr contents and are interpreted tobe the result of mixing of melts derived from an isotopicallydepleted source with small melt fractions of an enriched lithosphericmantle source. Group 3 dyke were intruded at 190 Ma and formthe most distinct magma group; these are largely picritic withsuperficially mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB)-like chemistry (flatREE patterns, ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr_i 0·7035, Nd_i 9). However, theyhave very high TiO₂ (4 wt %) and Zr (500 ppm) contents, whichis not consistent with melting of MORB-source mantle. The Group3 magmas are inferred to be derived by partial melting of astrongly depleted mantle source in the garnet stability field.This group includes several high Mg–Fe dykes (ferropicrites),which are interpreted as high-temperature melts. Some Group3 dykes also show evidence of contamination by continental crust.Group 4 dykes are low-K picrites intruded at 178 Ma; they havevery high TiO₂–Zr contents and are the most enriched magmagroup of the Karoo–Antarctic province, with ocean-islandbasalt (OIB)-like chemistry. Dykes of Group 1 and Group 3 aresub-parallel (ENE–WSW) and both groups were emplaced at190 Ma in response to the same regional stress field, whichhad changed by 178 Ma, when Group 2 and Group 4 dykes were intrudedalong a dominantly NNE–SSW strike. KEY WORDS: flood basalt; depleted mantle; enriched mantle; Ahlmannryggen; Karoo dyke     

Towards a model for the in situ origin of PGE reefs in layered intrusions: insights from chromitite seams of the Rum Eastern Layered Intrusion, Scotland

The current debate on the origin of platinum-group element (PGE) reefs in layered intrusions centres mostly on gravity settling of sulphide liquid from overlying magma versus its introduction with interstitial melt/fluids migrating upward from the underlying cumulate pile. Here, we show that PGE-rich chromitite seams of the Rum Eastern Layered Intrusion provide evidence for an alternative origin of such deposits in layered intrusions. These laterally extensive 2-mm-thick chromitite seams occur at the bases of several cyclic mafic–ultramafic units and show lithological and textural relationships suggesting in situ growth directly at a crystal–liquid interface. This follows from chromitite development along the edges of steeply inclined culminations and depressions at unit boundaries, even where these are vertically oriented or overhanging. High concentrations of PGE (up to 2–3 ppm Pd + Pt) are controlled by fine-grained base-metal sulphides, which are closely associated with chromitite seams. The following sequence of events explains the origin of the PGE-rich chromitite seams: (a) emplacement of picritic magma that caused thermal and mechanical erosion of underlying cumulate, followed by in situ growth of chromite against the base, (b) precipitation of sulphide droplets on chromite grains acting as favourable substrate or catalyst for sulphide nucleation, (c) the scavenging of PGE by sulphide droplets from fresh magma continuously brought towards the base by convection. Since the rate of magma convection is 10⁵–10⁷ times higher than that of the solidification (km/year to km/day versus 0.5–1.0 cm/year), the in situ formed sulphide droplets can equilibrate with picritic magma of thousands to million times their own volume. As a result, the sulphide-bearing rocks are able to reach economic concentrations of PGE (several ppm). We tentatively suggest that the basic principles of our model may be used to explain the origin of PGE-rich chromitites and classical PGE reefs in other layered mafic–ultramafic intrusions.     

On the origin of fore-arc basins: new evidence of formation by rifting from the Jurassic of Alexander Island, Antarctica

The Middle Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous Fossil Bluff Group of Alexander Island, Antarctica represents the fill of a fore-arc basin unconformably overlying an accretionary complex. Like most fore-arc basins, this example had been considered to have a passive origin, as a topographic hollow between the arc and the trench-slope break. Recent discoveries of igneous rock coeval with sedimentation have altered this view. Oxfordian–Kimmeridgian basaltic and rhyolitic sills and lava flows are found in a restricted area at the north of the basin, within a single formation. Chemically, most basalts are high-Nb types, which cannot have originated in a supra-subduction zone setting. Since the age of emplacement of these rocks coincides with a gap in the record of plutonism in the Antarctic Peninsula volcanic arc, it is concluded that a late Jurassic pause in subduction led to active rifting to form the fore-arc basin.     

Geochemistry and geochronology of Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous intrusions related to some Au (Sb) deposits in southern Anhui: a case study and review

Some Au deposits in southern Anhui Province have recently been found to be closely associated with Late Mesozoic intrusions. Typical examples include the Huashan Au (Sb) deposit and Au deposits at Zhaojialing, Wuxi, and Liaojia. In order to understand the mechanisms that led the formation of these Au deposits, we make detailed reviews on the geological characteristics of these Au deposits. Specifically, we present new LA-ICP-MS zircon U–Pb dating, along with elemental and Hf isotopic data from the Huashan Au (Sb) deposit. Our data suggests that the Huashan ore-related intrusions were emplaced during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous periods (144–148 Ma). They are characterized by arc-magma features and high oxygen fugacity and are rich in inherited zircons. Zircon U–Pb ages and Lu–Hf isotopes from intrusions suggest that Proterozoic juvenile lithosphere is the main source of these intrusions. The regional geological history implies that lithosphere beneath southern Anhui was produced during a Proterozoic subduction and was fertilized with Au (Cu) in the process. Integrated with the results of previous studies, we inferred that Late Mesozoic intrusions formed by the remelting of the lithosphere could provide the metal endowment for the Au-rich deposits in southern Anhui.