Geochemistry of early mesozoic tholeiites from Morocco

Mesozoic dolerites from two areas of Morocco, the High Atlas fold belt between Marrakech and Demnat and the Anti-Atlas belt in the area of Foum Zquid, are most high-Ti quartz-normative tholeiites whichi in many respects resemble Mesozoic dolerite dikes from eastern North America. The dolerites display a wide range of major and trace element compositions, some of which are due to fractional crystallization. The doleritic sequences from High Atlas also show vertical stratigraphic zonation which is characterized by a progressive depletion of lithophile elements toward the top. This trend together with regularities of trace element ratio variations are indicative of a dynamic melting of an initially homogeneous source. It is suggested that the continental upper mantle source for dolerites of Morocco was enriched in several incompatible elements in comparison with the upper mantle source for ocean floor tholeiites.     

Trace element geochemistry of some continental tholeiites

Continental tholeiites from four regions (Late Cretaceous to Early Eocene Deccan Trap lavas of central India, Early Mesozoic tholeiites from the Atlantic margins of Northwest Africa-Morocco, and northeastern North America-Nova Scotia, Canada and Precambrian Coppermine River basalts from Northwest Territories, Canada) differ from MORB by higher concentrations of K, Rb, Ba and Th and to a lesser degree light REE. Their chondrite-normalized trace element patterns show negative Nb anomalies. The distribution and variation of trace elements indicate that the rocks from all the areas studied were affected by interaction with the continental crust. It is suggested that continental tholeiites have been generated from a similar source as oceanic tholeiites and many of their geochemical differences are related to crustal contamination.     

Archaean atmosphere and lithosphere

Cindy Ebinger reports on an RAS discussion meeting on 10 and 11 February 2000 that fostered lively debate on the early Earth, from workers in a range of specialisms.     

俯冲带橄榄岩及其记录的壳幔相互作用

俯冲过程是板块构造运动的核心过程,而地幔楔作为俯冲系统中连接俯冲盘和仰冲盘的关键构造单元,在地球层圈之间物质循环和能量交换等方面发挥了重要作用.本研究汇总了全球代表性俯冲带橄榄岩(包括俯冲带型蛇绿岩和地幔楔型造山带橄榄岩)的研究现状,并展望未来需要解决的关键科学问题.俯冲带型蛇绿岩地幔单元和地幔楔型造山带橄榄岩分别代表着大洋和大陆俯冲带侵位的地幔岩石,是研究俯冲带壳幔相互作用的关键对象.该相互作用的本质是俯冲板片和地幔楔之间在物理过程主控下发生复杂的化学交换作用.俯冲带型蛇绿岩能够记录从大洋岩石圈产生到俯冲启动直至成熟到消亡等不同阶段复杂的熔-岩和水-岩相互作用、变形变质过程、金属成矿元素富集以及壳幔物质交换等.地幔楔型造山带橄榄岩则反映洋-陆和陆-陆俯冲/碰撞、折返等阶段强烈的变形变质历史,多种性质的熔/流体交代作用(硅酸盐熔体、碳酸盐熔体、含硅酸盐组分的C-H-O流体/超临界流体),以及复杂的壳幔物质循环过程等.利用俯冲带橄榄岩进一步探索壳幔相互作用,需要采用高空间分辨率、高精度的测试方法从微观尺度上约束复杂的化学交代过程和变质变形历史,并与宏观构造的时、空演化相联系.     

Subduction-zone peridotites and their records of crust-mantle interaction

Subduction is the core process of plate tectonics. The mantle wedge in subduction-zone systems represents a key tectonic unit, playing a significant role in material cycling and energy exchange between Earth's layers. This study summarizes research progresses in terms of subduction-related peridotite massifs, including supra-subduction zone(SSZ) ophiolites and mantle-wedge-type(MWT) orogenic peridotites. We also provide the relevant key scientific questions that need be solved in the future. The mantle sections of SSZ ophiolites and MWT orogenic peridotites represent the mantle fragments from oceanic and continental lithosphere in subduction zones, respectively. They are essential targets to study the crust-mantle interaction in subduction zones. The nature of this interaction is the complex chemical exchanges between the subducting slab and the mantle wedge under the major control of physical processes. The SSZ ophiolites can record melt/fluid-rock interaction, metamorphism,deformation, concentration of metallogenic elements and material exchange between crust and mantle, during the stages from the generation of oceanic lithosphere at spreading centers to the initiation, development, maturation and ending of oceanic subduction at continental margins. The MWT orogenic peridotites reveal the history of strong metamorphism and deformation during subduction, the multiple melt/fluid metasomatism(including silicatic melts, carbonatitic melts and silicate-bearing C-HO fluids/supercritical fluids), and the complex cycling of crust-mantle materials, during the subduction/collision and exhumation of continental plates. In order to further reveal the crust-mantle interaction using subduction-zone peridotites, it is necessary to utilize high-spatial-resolution and high-precision techniques to constrain the complex chemical metasomatism, metamorphism,deformation at micro scales, and to reveal their connections with spatial-temporal evolution in macro-scale tectonics.     

A geochemical study of island-arc and back-arc tholeiites from the Scotia Sea

⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios, REE and selected minor and trace elements are presented and compared for present-day volcanic rocks in the Scotia Sea.Tholeiitic basalts from the South Sandwich Islands show widely ranging contents of some lithophile elements, e.g. K₂O (0.09–0.55%) and Rb (1.55–14.2 ppm), but fairly constant Na₂O and Sr. Total REE contents range from about 4–20 times chondritic abundances with significant light-REE depletion and both positive and negative Eu anomalies. The variations in minor and trace element abundances are consistent with low-pressure fractional crystallization of plagioclase and clinopyroxene but only minor amounts of olivine. The⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios of the parental magmas are thought be 0.7038–0.7039 and 0.51301–0.51314 respectively, and indicate derivation of at least some⁸⁷Sr from subducted ocean crust.The back-arc tholeiites in the Scotia Sea have lower⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.7028–0.7033), similar¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios (0.51305) and are variably light-REE-enriched(Ce_N/Yb_N= 1.0–1.6). Total REE contents are comparable to those of the South Sandwich Islands tholeiites.     

Archaean metallogeny: A synthesis and review

Granitoid rocks interspersed with greenstone belts together comprise Archaean cratons throughout the world. The greenstone belts contain a wide variety of volcanic rocks which, despite cyclical variations in composition, generally change from ultramafic komatiites toward the stratigraphic base of the successions, upward through tholeiitic basalts and calc-alkaline andesites, to silici-alkalic rhyodacites toward the top. These extrusive rocks are intruded by rocks of a similar wide compositional range, which are probably comagmatic and subvolcanic to the former. The volcanic rocks are also intercalated with, and flanked by, volcaniclastic and distinctive immature sedimentary strata, including turbiditic greywacke and polymictic conglomerate. All are products of the prolonged volcanism that dominated Archaean supracrustal evolution and metallogenesis.Rare element pegmatites are associated with the Archaean granitic intrusions. Four important types of metalliferous ores, iron-manganese, nickel-chrome, gold-silver and copper-zinc occur in the greenstone belts, often co-regionally with one another in the same mining districts. Algoma type iron-formations of oxide, carbonate, silicate and sulfide facies occur throughout the volcano-sedimentary successions from base suggest common genetic processes for these ores. The Algoma type iron-formations are chemical sedimerare chromite deposits are restricted to the stratigraphically lower, ultramafic komatiites. Important gold ores are hosted primarily in the tholeiitic basalts, particularly where these are intercalated with ankeritic-pyritic chemical sedimentary strata, but smaller gold deposits are also known in stratigraphically lower ultramafic and higher felsic volcanic rocks. The largest massive base metal sulfide deposits occur in the stratigraphically higher felsic rhyodacitic members.The close spatial associations between deposits of these metals in Archaean rocks, particularly those of certain nickel, gold and base metal ores with iron-formation, together with their many similar geological characteristics, suggest common genetic processes for these ores. The Algoma type iron-formations are chemical sedimentary precipitates from ferruginous hydrothermal fluids that were periodically discharged on the sea floor during the prolonged Archaean subaqueous volcanism. The massive base metal deposits are of similar origin, essentially Cu-Zn-rich varieties of sulfide-facies iron-formation. The auriferous cherty, ankeritic or pyritic chemical sedimentary strata were also formed by similar sea floor exhalative hydrothermal activity. Although seldom of mineable gold content themselves, these constituted important, pre-enriched source rocks for later metamorphic generation of gold veins. Although many of the nickel sulfide and chromite bodies are of magmatic generation, others closely associated with iron-formation, and themselves delicately interbedded with cherty or talc-carbonate laminae, may be due to similar sea floor hydrothermal discharge that accompanied ultramafic extrusive activity. Considering their close spatial and genetic links, the occurrence of any one of these four types of deposit suggests the possibility of the others wherever the favourable Archaean host rocks are present.Different Archaean cratons however, have differing proportions of these four types of deposit, and of their distinctive host rocks. Greenstone belts in all cratons throughout the world contain the iron-formations and gold deposits. Greenstone belts of southern Africa and Western Austrialia, however, have more abundant ultramafic rocks and more important nickel-chrome deposits. Some of them may be older than comparable belts in Canada which contain more rhyodacitic rocks and more important copper-zinc ores. Some belts of Brazil and West Africa may be still younger, contain more pyroclastic-volcaniclastic rocks, lack both the nickel-chrome and copper-zinc ores, but contain important manganese in their iron-formations. These relations suggest worldwide diachroneity of Archaean greenstone belt generation, late-Archaean granitic orogeny and ensuing Proterozoic sedimentation.     

Komatiites and the structure of the Archaean mantle

The existence of Archaean komatiites with eruption temperatures greater than 1650°C requires that the mantle be vertically differentiated by the time of komatiite eruption. If in the unlikely event that undifferentiated mantle had survived primordial planetary differentiation and had been hot enough to deliver 1650°C komatiite, it would have been extensively molten to depths of ～250 km, resulting in rapid, profound, vertical differentiation anyway. During primordial differentiation (or Archaean komatiite petrogenesis) the high density and compressibility of ultrabasic melt allowed storage of a global melt layer beneath a buoyant residue of dunite and/or harzburgite. This refractory cap segregated by extraction of melt both upwards and downwards from the depth at which the density contrast between crystals and liquid vanishes. Eruption of komatiite from the melt layer by corrosion of the cap was the Archaean earth's principal means of dissipating excess heat. This subterranean magma ocean precluded vertical homogenization of the Archaean mantle by convection but effectively absorbed lateral mantle heterogeneities and imposed the relative uniformity of maximum eruption temperature and MgO contents (～32%) seen in primitive Archaean komatiites on all continents.Verification of the postulated density relations of liquids and crystals to 100 kbar becomes a pressing concern in view of the expected consequences these relations may have had.     

Distribution of trace elements in spinel and garnet peridotites

The distribution of trace elements in the upper mantle has been discussed on the basis of the trace element abundances in bulk rocks and constituent minerals of two spinel and garnet facies peridotite xenoliths in alkali basalts from eastern China. The data presented are consistent with the suggestion that highly incompatible elements (Rb, Ba, Th, U, Sr, Nb, Ta) mainly reside in intergranular components, and to a lesser extent in fluid inclusions in minerals. The LILE composition in olivine and orthopyroxene can be seriously affected by the presence of fluid inclusions. Consequently the subsolidus partitioning of the LILE cannot be used to infer the olivine-melt and orthopyroxene-melt partition coefficients for these elements. There is a significant difference in (Opx/Cpx)_HREE ratios for spinel and garnet peridotites, suggesting a P-T control on equilibrium partition coefficients.     

Melting relations of a magnesian abyssal tholeiite and the origin of MORBs

Melting relations of a glassy magnesian olivine tholeiite from the FAMOUS area have been studied within the pressure range 1 atm to 15 kbar. From 1 atm to 10 kbar, olivine is the liquidus phase, followed by plagioclase and Ca-rich clinopyroxene. Above 10 kbar, Ca-rich clinopyroxene appears on the liquidus, followed by orthopyroxene and spinel. Near 10 kbar, olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, spinel and plagioclase crystallize within 10°C of the liquidus. This indicates that a liquid of this magnesian olivine tholeiite composition could coexist with mantle peridotite at about 10 kbar. This result is in agreement with the geochemistry of Ni; the Ni concentration of the studied sample corresponds to the theoretical concentration in a primary magma [14,15].These data suggest that at least some magnesian mid-oceanic ridge basalts (MORBs) could be primary melts segregated from the mantle at depths near the transition zone between plagioclase lherzolite and spinel lherzolite (about 10 kbar). Based on this model, the residual mantle after extraction of MORBs should be lherzolite, not harzburgite.High-pressure (7–10 kbar) fractionation models involving olivine, plagioclase and clinopyroxene, which have been proposed by several workers (e.g. [36]) to explain the varieties of MORBs, were re-emphasized based on this melting study. The rare occurrence of clinopyroxene as a phenocryst phase in MORBs is explained by precipitation in a magma chamber at high pressure, or by dissolution of clinopyroxene formed earlier at high pressure.     

Lewisian gneiss geochemistry and Archaean crustal development models

The geochemistry of Lewisian amphibolite-facies gneisses from northwest Scotland is described with particular reference to the rare earth elements (REE) and compared with the geochemistry of Lewisian granulite-facies gneisses. The results show that there are no significant differences between “Laxfordian” amphibolite-facies and “Scourian” granulite-facies gneisses in terms of REE and other immobile trace elements (at equivalent silica levels), although the mobile radioactive heat-producing elements, K, Rb, Th, U, are significantly lower in the granulites. In both types the basic gneisses have moderately fractionated REE patterns while the intermediate and acid gneisses have strongly fractionated REE patterns with low heavy REE abundances and decreasing levels of total REE with increasing SiO₂. The most silicic gneisses develop large positive europium anomalies.These gross chemical similarities between gneisses from intermediate (amphibolite-facies) and lower (granulite-facies) crustal levels constrain models for the evolution of the Archaean crust. The depletion of K, Rb, Cs, Th and U in granulites, but not other incompatible trace elements cannot be explained by magmatic processes. The positive Eu anomaly in the more siliceous gneisses of both facies is a function of the primary processes of crustal generation and not secondary processes such as intracrustal melting or fractional crystallisation. Fractionation of radioactive heat-producing elements from other trace elements is a result of granulite-facies metamorphism with these elements being removed by an active fluid phase. The apparent lack of partial melting in lower crustal granulites suggests a model for Archaean crustal growth largely through underplating by primary tonalitic magmas.     

The Dabie-Sulu orogenic peridotites:Progress and key issues

Orogenic peridotites in the Dabie-Sulu orogenic belt are commonly subdivided into‘crustal’type and‘mantle’type.They exhibit distinct mineral textures,metamorphic evolution,and whole-rock and mineral compositions.Most‘mantle’type peridotites originated from the subcontinental lithospheric mantle(SCLM)of the North China Craton and thus provide direct evidence of crust-mantle interactions in the continental subduction channel.In garnet peridotites,both garnet and Cr-spinel can be equilibrated at peak pressure conditions.Their stabilities are mainly controlled by the refertilized degree of whole-rock;therefore,spinel composition cannot be used to discriminate the partial melting degree of orogenic peridotites.Refractory mantle-derived dunites contain the textures of low Mg and high Ca olivine veins that crosscut orthopyroxene porphyroblasts,which is considered as evidence for silica-undersaturated melt-rock reactions.Such reactions occurring before subduction may potentially affect Re-Os isotopic compositions.Rutile,Ti-clinohumite and zircon in mantle-derived peridotites or pyroxenites provide direct mineralogical evidence for the transport of high field strength elements(HFSEs)from the subducted crust into the mantle wedge.Based on detailed in situ element and isotope analyses,we can constrain the source of metasomatic agents,the metasomatic time and the process of mass transfer.The mantle wedge above continental subduction zones has a wide range of oxygen fugacity values(FMQ=?5.50–1.75),showing a roughly negative correlation with the subducted depths.However,the calculated results of oxygen fugacity are significantly affected by mineral assemblages,P-T conditions and dehydrogenation-oxidation of nominally anhydrous mantle olivine during exhumation.Although significant progress has been made in the study of orogenic peridotites in the Dabie-Sulu orogenic belt,many critical questions remain.With new approaches and advanced technologic applications,additional knowledge of the phase relation in the peridotite-pyroxenite complex system,the mantle geodynamic process before continental subduction,the effects of crustal metasomatism on chemical composition,the oxygen fugacity,and the physical properties of the mantle wedge is anticipated.     

Oceanic tholeiites on the Cape Verde Islands: petrochemical and geochemical evidence

The mineralogy, major element composition, REE patterns and Sc, Co, Hf, Cr, Sr, and Cu contents of nine pillow lavas from the pre-Cenozoic basement complex of Maio reveal the presence of oceanic tholeiites on the Cape Verde archipelago.These uplifted tholeiites constitute the oldest rocks exposed on the islands and are related to an Early Cretaceous (or still somewhat older?) oceanic ridge crest. It is suggested that the formation of east-west trending fracture zones in the Atlantic Ocean induced the alkalic character of the Cape Verde magmatism from the middle of the Cretaceous up to historical times.     

Hydrological investigation of the magnesian limestone of South-East Durham,England

This paper describes the exploration of the recently developed Magnesian Limestone aquifer.     

Ten year remeasurement of chemical denudation on a magnesian limestone hillslope

Results from the measurement of microweight loss of Magnesian Limestone rock tablets placed at the soil–bedrock interface on a hillslope over 10 years (1982–1992) gave the same relative pattern of upslope increase in weight loss as did short-term measurements (1979–1981), but the absolute values were an order of magnitude lower (0·01–0·03 per cent per year long term and 0·1–0·6 per cent per year short term). Microweighed rock tablets may therefore give unreliable absolute rates and can only be used to indicate relative spatial differences rather than to give reliable data on temporal changes.     

Rhyodacites,andesites, ferro-basalts and ocean tholeiites from the galapagos spreading center

Volcanic rocks, dredged from depths greater than 1000 m on the Galapagos spreading center, show extreme chemical diversity, including rhyodacites, andesite, ferro-basalts, and low-K oceanic tholeiite. All samples have fresh glassy margins. The ferro-basalts contain up to 18.5% total iron as FeO and up to 3.75% TiO₂, while the oceanic tholeiites are as low as 0.02% K₂O. The ferro-basalts correlate with the previously proposed zone of high magnetic anomaly amplitudes which flank the Galapagos hot spot, and are consistent with a genesis by shallow fractional crystallization.     

Volcano spacings and lithospheric/crustal thickness in the Archaean

There is a linear relationship between the spacing of Pliocene-Pleistocene volcanoes and the thickness of the lithosphere and attenuated crust in the East African rift valley. Assuming that the physical-chemical properties of the Archaean and Cenozoic lithosphere and crust were broadly similar, we use the spacing of volcanic centres in the Abitibi greenstone belt of southern Canada to determine lithospheric and crustal thickness in the Archaean. The abitibi volcanoes have been deformed and so have elliptical cross-sections. In order to arrive at their original form we have removed the effects of tectonic strain by two alternative mechanisms of pure and simple shear which give comparable results. A mean original volcano spacing of 84–88 km suggests that the lithsophere was 80–90 km thick and that the crust was probably 35–45 km thick in this greenstone belt about 2700 m.y. ago. The crustal values are comparable with those determined by geochemical parameters and are consistent with the suggestion that greenstone belts formed in extensional marginal basins between crustal-thickened continental masses, deep sections of which are now seen in Archaean high-grade regions.     

Chemical denudation on a magnesian limestone hillslope,field evidence and implications for modelling

The pattern of relative denudation at the soil-bedrock interface over a wooded Magnesian Limestone hillslope was investigated using micro-weight loss bedrock tablets. The resulting pattern of weight loss after emplacement for one year indicated a consistent upslope increase in solutional denudation. Results from tablets emplaced for two years confirmed this. Dye tracing and gypsum sphere weight loss results showed that water movement over the slope was by vertical percolation and not by throughflow. The pattern of solutional denudation was related to changes in soil type and associated changes in soil pH. Continued slope development by solutional denudation will ultimately lead to slope decline. Comparison with a similar study suggests that a general soil chemistry based model of hillslope solutional denudation can be proposed.     

On water in nominally anhydrous minerals from mantle peridotites and magmatic rocks

Trace amount of water associated with the lattice defects of nominally anhydrous minerals (NAMs) can be measured using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). Lots of data on water in NAMs from different lithologies, especially mantle peridotite xenoliths, have been published. The water distribution in olivine from peridotite xenoliths often displays a diffusion profile with high water concentration in the core and low at the rim, which indicates water loss via diffusion during the ascent of host magma. On the other hand, water is homogeneously distributed in pyroxene and its concentration is typically interpreted to represent a mantle value. The water concentration of magma in equilibrium with NAM can be estimated using specific partition coefficient, from which the water content of parental magma and the mantle source can be inferred. The accuracy of this method, however, depends on the selection of appropriate partition coefficient for the system. Using hydrogen isotope compositions and H₂O/Ce ratios of mantle NAMs, water source regions can be traced and water heterogeneity can be mapped in the upper mantle. Water plays an important role in the stability of cratonic mantle. The water contents and vertical distribution patterns can be significantly different among different cratonic mantles, which may result from different geologic activities. However, the mantle-plume interaction may not necessarily result in significant change of water content in cratonic mantle. The estimation of the water content in the upper mantle is still largely based on geochemical models due to the limitations of data on water in mantle NAMs.