Carbonate deposits on submerged seamounts in the northwestern Pacific Ocean

Abstract   The lithology of shallow-water carbonates collected from 19 sites on 16 seamounts in six areas of the northwestern Pacific Ocean using the Deep-sea Boring Machine System are described. The areas include the Amami Plateau, Daito Ridge, Oki-Daito Ridge, Urdaneta Plateau, Kyushu-Palau Ridge and Ogasawara Plateau. Chronological constraint is provided by calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy, planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy, larger foraminiferal biostratigraphy and strontium (Sr) isotope stratigraphy. Large amounts of shallow-water carbonates accumulated on the seamounts during the Oligocene, a relatively cool period, whereas limited carbonate deposits formed during the Early Miocene, a relatively warm period. This might indicate that deposition of shallow-water carbonates on seamounts in the northwestern Pacific Ocean was not necessarily controlled by climatic conditions, but was related to volcanism and tectonics that served as foundations for reef/carbonate-platform formation. Remarkable differences in biotic composition exist between Cretaceous and Cenozoic shallow-water carbonates. Late Cretaceous shallow-water carbonates are distinguished by the occurrence of rudists, solenoporacean algae and microencrusters. Middle Eocene to Early Oligocene shallow-water carbonates are dominated by Halimeda or nummulitid and discocyclinid larger foraminifers. Scleractinian corals became common from the Oligocene onward. Nongeniculate coralline algae and larger foraminifers were common to abundant throughout the Eocene to the Pleistocene. The replacement of major carbonate producers in the shallow-water carbonate factory during post-Cretaceous time is in accordance with previous studies and is considered to reflect a shift in seawater chemistry.     

Depositional and diagenetic history of limestones and dolostones of the Oligo‐Miocene Kujung Formation in the Northeast Java Basin,Indonesia

Lithological and geochemical features of platformal carbonates record the signatures of the global climates and the regional environmental settings and also reconstruct the diagenetic history and porosity evolution, which are essential to evaluate the potential of hydrocarbon reservoirs. This study investigates the platformal carbonates of the Oligo‐Miocene Krunji Formation of North East Java Basin, which are potentially significant hydrocarbon reservoirs. The carbonate sequence in a 283 m thick section at Kranji in East Java is subdivided into three lithological units: limestone unit 1, dolostone unit 2, and limestone unit 3, in ascending order. The strontium‐isotope ratios of well‐preserved calcite samples indicate the depositional period from Chattian (late Oligocene) to Burdigalian (early Miocene), which is consistent with ages of the foraminifer assemblages. Unit 1 consists of low‐porosity limestone, in which two horizons of subaerial exposure are recognized by the occurrence of red‐colored matrix and lower δ¹³C values. Unit 2 consists of dolomitic rock and exhibits coarse‐grained calcitic grains and cross‐stratified structure. Considering that this unit has been subject to dolomitization, the sediment of unit 2 was initially permeable and was likely deposited in a shoal setting. The overlying unit 3 of Aquitanian–Burdigalian age is characterized by a highly granular texture. High porosity and uniformly low δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values indicate that Unit 3 was subjected to more intense meteoric diagenesis than the Chattian unit 1. This was likely a consequence of the Antarctic ice‐sheet expansion during the Oligocene/Miocene transition, which amplified sea level change. The unit 2 dolomite has high δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values and a high ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio which resulted from the reflux of seawater into permeable the sediment body in middle‐late Miocene (Burdigalian Tortonian) following the deposition of unit 3. The porosity and permeability of the Kujung Formation were initially controlled by sedimentological processes, but largely modified by later diagenetic processes.     

Triassic mid-oceanic sedimentation in Panthalassa Ocean: Sambosan accretionary complex, Japan

Abstract   The Sambosan accretionary complex of southwest Japan was formed during the uppermost Jurassic to lowermost Cretaceous and consists of basaltic rocks, carbonates and siliceous rocks. The Sambosan oceanic rocks were grouped into four stratigraphic successions: (i) Middle Upper Triassic basaltic rock; (ii) Upper Triassic shallow-water limestone; (iii) limestone breccia; and (iv) Middle Middle Triassic to lower Upper Jurassic siliceous rock successions. The basaltic rocks have a geochemical affinity with oceanic island basalt of a normal hotspot origin. The shallow-water limestone, limestone breccia, and siliceous rock successions are interpreted to be sediments on the seamount-top, upper seamount-flank and surrounding ocean floor, respectively. Deposition of the radiolarian chert of the siliceous rock succession took place on the ocean floor in Late Anisian and continued until Middle Jurassic. Oceanic island basalt was erupted to form a seamount by an intraplate volcanism in Late Carnian. Late Triassic shallow-water carbonate sedimentation occurred at the top of this seamount. Accumulation of the radiolarian chert was temporally replaced by Late Carnian to Early Norian deep-water pelagic carbonate sedimentation. Biotic association and lithologic properties of the pelagic carbonates suggest that an enormous production and accumulation of calcareous planktonic biotas occurred in an open-ocean realm of the Panthalassa Ocean in Late Carnian through Early Norian. Upper Norian ribbon chert of the siliceous rock succession contains thin beds of limestone breccia displaced from the shallow-water buildup resting upon the seamount. The shallow-water limestone and siliceous rock successions are nearly coeval with one another and are laterally linked by displaced carbonates in the siliceous rock succession.     

New data on the Late Cenozoic basaltic volcanism in Syria,applied to its origin

New data on geology and 21 K–Ar dates of the Late Oligocene–Quaternary basalts in Syria, combined with analysis of the new and previous data are used to reconstruct the volcanic history and relations between it and tectonic events. Volcanism began at the end of Oligocene (26–24 Ma) and was concentrated in the Late Oligocene–Early Miocene along a N-trending band, which stretches from the Jebel Arab (Harrat Ash Shaam) up to Kurd Dagh and southern Turkey. Activity waned in the Middle Miocene (17–12 Ma), but was resumed in the same band in the Tortonian and increased in the Messinian and Early Pliocene (6.3–4 Ma), when volcanism spread to the Shin Plateau and its coastal extension. After a brief hiatus ～ 4–3.5 Ma, volcanism became still more intensive and spread from the N-trending band to the east into the northern margin of the Mesopotamian Foredeep and to the west into the Dead Sea Transform zone. Additional eruptions continued into the Holocene.Volcanism lasted > 25 million years in the Jebel Arab Highland and > 15 million years in the Aleppo Plateau. The long duration of volcanism in the same parts of the moving Arabian plate and absence of records of one-way migration of the activity mean that the magmatic sources moved together with the plate, i.e., they were situated within the lithosphere mantle. Coincidence of the tectonic and volcanic stages of the Arabian plate development proves that volcanic activity depended on the geodynamic situation, caused by the plate motion. Situated within the lithosphere, magmatic sources within this transverse band were possibly caused by thermal and deforming influences of the asthenospheric lateral flow, moved laterally from the Ethiopia–Afar deep superplume.     

Basin evolution associated to curved thrusts: The Prerif Ridges in the Volubilis area (Rif Cordillera,Morocco)

The Volubilis Basin is located between two structural arcs formed by the Prerif Ridges that developed during and after sedimentation. The arcs correspond with W- to WSW-verging anticline culminations, limited, to the north by a NE-SW strike-slip lateral ramp. Sedimentary infill took place during two stages of ridge formation and propagation. The first stage occurred in the Middle Miocene-early Tortonian and was determined by the deposition of the Nappe Prérifaine in the northern part of the basin, and continental and marine sediments over the Prerif Ridges. The second one, Late Miocene in age (Tortonian–Messinian), corresponds to the sedimentation of calcarenites and bioclastic limestones at the basin edges, with a lateral transition to white and blue marls toward the center of the basin. There is clear evidence of synsedimentary deformation, suggesting the interaction of sedimentation and tectonics. Geophysical data allow us to characterize the stratigraphic architecture of the Volubilis Basin and the geometry of the top of the Paleozoic basement. An approximately N–S Tortonian–Messinian asymmetric depocenter is located close to the front of the eastern arc. This research illustrates the nucleation, progressive thrust bending and segmentation, and the propagation of folds interacting with sedimentation. Thrust nucleation agrees with Paleozoic basement highs under the detachment surface. The progressive development of these tectonic structures conditioned the formation, segmentation and final continentalization of the Volubilis Basin, which can be considered as a piggy-back basin.     

Faunal analysis of Neogene planktonic foraminifera from forearc sediments of the Japan Trench, ODP Site 1151, Leg 186

Abstract The present paper describes the general outline of Neogene paleoceanographic changes in the northwestern Pacific by means of planktonic foraminiferal assemblages. Planktonic foraminiferal fossils occur commonly in the upper Miocene to lower Pleistocene sediments of Hole 1151A, Ocean Drilling Program Leg 186 in the forearc basin off northeast Japan, with the exception of 11 barren intervals. These barren intervals are explained as a result of dissolution under organic decomposing processes. Three assemblages of planktonic foraminifers were identified by Q‐mode cluster analysis. The succession of the assemblages can be divided into four paleoceanographic stages: (i) warm‐temperate Tortonian; (ii) cold‐temperate Messinian to lower Pliocene; (iii) warm climatic optimum in the middle part of the Pliocene; and (iv) strong glacial–interglacial oscillation of the upper Pliocene to the lower Pleistocene. Three short warming events—namely, the late Miocene climatic optimum 3, the Miocene–Pliocene boundary and the middle Pliocene events—and a short cooling event of the late Miocene could be determined in the studied section of Site 1151.     

The role of strain partitioning on intermontane basin inception and isolation,External Western Gibraltar Arc

The intermontane Ronda Basin, currently located in the Western Betics External Zones, started as an embayment of the Betic foreland basin during the Tortonian. We have characterized a post-Serravallian, basin-related deformation event that overprinted the former fold-and-thrust belt. Updated structural and kinematic maps allow us to identify NW–SE basinward-dipping normal faults at the southwestern and northeastern boundaries of the basin and NE–SW shortening structures (large-scale folds and reverse faults) affecting both the outcropping basement and partially the basin infill. In order to test the possible tectonic activity of these structures during the last 5 Ma, exhaustive geomorphologic analyses in the Ronda Basin area have been done. This included the qualitative study of relief and drainage network, together with the characterization of quantitative indices (SLk, Smf, V_f and HI). These results obtained from this analysis are coherent with structural data and suggest that the identified post-Serravallian structures were active up to at least 5 Ma. We also conclude that the Ronda Basin was generated by along strike segmentation of the relief in the Western Betics induced by NE–SW (arc-parallel) stretching accompanied with NW–SE shortening. In the NW basin boundary, the strain was partitioned into ENE–WSW dextral strike-slip faults and NE–SW shortening structures, which gave rise to a Messinian transpressive structural high that disconnected the former Ronda Basin from its parental foreland basin.     

High and dry in central Tibet during the Late Oligocene

The time at which the Tibetan Plateau rose to its present high elevation remains controversial, with estimates ranging from 40 Ma to more recent than 7 Ma. New stable isotope analyses of modern and accurately dated ancient paleosol carbonate in the Nima basin of central Tibet point to an arid climate and high paleoelevation (4.5–5 km, comparable to today's setting) by 26 Ma. Oxygen isotope values of ancient (26 Ma) soil carbonate are both very negative and indistinguishable–after modest corrections for changes in global climate–from the lowest (least evaporated) oxygen isotope values of modern soil carbonates in the area. Substantial enrichments in oxygen-18 in paleolacustrine carbonates, as well as high carbon isotope values from paleosol carbonates, indicate considerable lake evaporation and low soil respiration rates, respectively, and both are consistent with the present arid climate of the Nima area. Blockage of tropical moisture by the Himalaya and perhaps the Gangdese Shan probably has contributed strongly to the aridity and very negative oxygen isotope values of soil carbonate and surface water in the Nima area since at least the Late Oligocene. The maintenance of high elevation since at least 26 Ma suggests that any flow of lower crust from beneath central Tibet must have been balanced by coeval northward insertion of Indian crust beneath the Plateau.     

The evolution of volcanism in the Tugnui-Khilok sector of the western Transbaikalia rift area in the Late Mesozoic and Cenozoic

The Late Mesozoic-Cenozoic volcanism of the Tugnui-Khilok sector in the western Transbaikalia rift area is related to the development of the Tugnui, Tsolgin, Margentui, and Khilok grabens and is characterized by a north-south migration of magmatic centers. In these grabens, the igneous associations are composed of high-alkaline rocks: alkaline and subalkaline basalts, tephrites, phonolites, trachytes, trachyrhyolites, comendites and pantellerites, alkaline syenites and alkaline gabbroids. These associations are known to have formed during 10 stages: Late Jurassic (150–158 Ma), Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous (139–147 Ma), the beginning of the Early Cretaceous (133–145 Ma), mid-Early Cretaceous (115–134Ma), the end of the Early Cretaceous (104–114 Ma), the end of the Early-beginning of Late Cretaceous (99–102 Ma), Late Cretaceous (72–90 Ma), Eocene (38–48 Ma), Early Oligocene (30–35 Ma), and Late Oligocene (25–27 Ma). The composition of igneous associations was changing in such a way that the relative amount of salic rocks gradually decreased (occasionally even disappeared completely) in the later developmental stages. As well, the content of SiO₂ in basic rocks also decreased with increasing Nb and Ta contents, and depletion occurred in the lithophylic elements Rb, K, Ba, Sr, and in light rare-earths relative to heavy ones. The geochemical and isotope-geochemical parameters of basaltoids change through time, probably due to successive changes in the mantle sources of magmatism. During Mesozoic time, the source composition was consistent, with OIB-EM-II sources enriched in radiogenic strontium, but since the second half of the Cretaceous, the isotope composition began to be modified toward moderately depleted sources of the OIB-PREMA type.     

Characteristics,genesis and accumulation history of natural gas in Hetianhe gasfield,Tarim Basin,China

Hetianhe gasfield in Bachu region of the Tarim Basin is mainly composed of three reservoir-caprock assembly, namely regional caprock of upper mudstone, middle mudstone and lower mudstone of the Carboniferous and reservoir of Bachu bioclastic limestone, glutenite and the Ordovician carbonate buried hill. Natural gas in Hetianhe gasfield sourced from the Cambrian source rock. It is thought that gases in Ma4 well block in the east of Hetianhe gasfield are mainly crude-oil cracked gases, while those in Ma3 and Ma8 well blocks in the west are the mixture gases of kerogen cracked gases and crude-oil cracked gases. Natural gas is rich in H₂S and accumulated in multiply stages as the result of TSR. The accumulation history is divided into three stages, namely accumulation and breakage in the late Caledonian-early Hercynian, migration and dissipation in the late Hercynian and accumulation in Himalayan. The main accumulation of reformed gas reservoir is in Himalayan.

     

Characteristics,genesis and accumulation history of natural gas in Hetianhe gasfield,Tarim Basin,China

Hetianhe gasfield in Bachu region of the Tarim Basin is mainly composed of three reservoir-caprock assembly, namely regional caprock of upper mudstone, middle mudstone and lower mudstone of the Carboniferous and reservoir of Bachu bioclastic limestone, glutenite and the Ordovician carbonate buried hill. Natural gas in Hetianhe gasfield sourced from the Cambrian source rock. It is thought that gases in Ma4 well block in the east of Hetianhe gasfield are mainly crude-oil cracked gases, while those in Ma3 and Ma8 well blocks in the west are the mixture gases of kerogen cracked gases and crude-oil cracked gases. Natural gas is rich in H₂S and accumulated in multiply stages as the result of TSR. The accumulation history is divided into three stages, namely accumulation and breakage in the late Caledonian-early Hercynian, migration and dissipation in the late Hercynian and accumulation in Himalayan. The main accumulation of reformed gas reservoir is in Himalayan.     

Control of preexisting faults and near-surface diapirs on geometry and kinematics of fold-and-thrust belts (Internal Prebetic,Eastern Betic Cordillera)

We have determined, for the first time, the 3D geometry of a sector of the eastern Internal Prebetic comprised between Parcent and Altea diapirs, combining structural, borehole and multichannel seismic reflection data. The tectonic structure of the Jurassic-Cretaceous carbonate series is characterized by regional ENE-WSW fold-and-thrusts that interact with oblique N-S and WNW-ESE folds, detached over Triassic evaporites and clays. The structural style comprises box-shape anticlines, and N-vergent anticlines with vertical to overturned limbs frequently bordered by reverse and strike-slip faults. The anticlines surround a triangular broad synclinal structure, the Tárbena basin, filled by a late Oligocene to Tortonian sedimentary sequence that recorded folding and thrusting history. The location and geometrical characteristics of fold-and-thrusts may be controlled by the positive inversion of pre-existing Mesozoic normal faults, and by the position and shape of near-surface diapirs composed of Triassic rocks. Therefore, we propose an initial near-surface diapir emplacement of Triassic evaporitic rocks driven by late Jurassic to early Cretaceous rifting of the southern Iberian paleomargin. Thrusting and folding started during the latest Oligocene (∼28–23 Ma) roughly orthogonal to the NW-directed shortening. Deformation migrated to the south during Aquitanian (∼23–20 Ma), when tectonic inversion implied the left-lateral transpressive reactivation of N-S striking former normal faults and right-lateral/reverse reactivation of inherited WNW-ESE faults. We show two mechanisms driving the extrusion of the diapirs during contraction: lateral migration of a pre-existing near-surface diapir associated with dextral transpression; and squeezing of a previous near-surface diapir at the front of an anticline. Our study underlines the value of 3D geological modeling to characterize geometry and kinematics of complex fold-and-thrust belts influenced by preexisting faults and near-surface diapirs.     

Carbon isotope stratigraphy of Torinosu‐type limestone in the western Paleo‐Pacific and its implication to paleoceanography in the Late Jurassic and earliest Cretaceous

Carbon isotope stratigraphy of the Late Jurassic and earliest Cretaceous was revealed from Torinosu‐type limestone, which was deposited in a shallow‐marine setting in the western Paleo‐Pacific, in Japan. Two sections were examined; the Nakanosawa section of the late Kimmeridgian to early Tithonian age (Fukushima Prefecture, Northeast Japan), and the Furuichi section of the late Kimmeridgian to early Berriasian age (Ehime Prefecture, Southwest Japan). The age‐model was established using Sr isotope ratio and fossil occurrence. The limestone samples have a low Mn/Sr ratio (mostly <0.5) and lack a distinct correlation between δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O, indicating a low degree of diagenetic alteration. Our composite δ¹³C profile from the two limestone sections shows three stratigraphic correlation points that can be correlated with the profiles of relevant ages from the Alpine Tethyan region: a large‐amplitude fluctuation (the lower upper Kimmeridgian, ～152 Ma), a positive anomaly (above the Kimmeridgian/Tithonian boundary, ～150 Ma), and a negative anomaly (the upper lower Tithonian, ～148 Ma). In addition, we found that δ¹³C values of the Torinosu‐type limestone are ～1‰ lower than the Tethyan values in the late Kimmeridgian. This inter‐regional difference in δ¹³C values is likely to have resulted from a higher productivity and/or an organic burial in the Tethyan region. The difference gradually reduces and disappears in the late Tithonian, where the Tethyan and our δ¹³C records show similar stable values of 1.5–2.0‰. This isotopic homogenization is probably due to changes in the continental distribution and the global ocean circulation, which propagated the ¹³C‐depleted signature from the larger Paleo‐Pacific to the smaller Tethys Ocean during this time.     

Neogene tectonic evolution of the Gibraltar Arc: New paleomagnetic constrains from the Betic chain

New paleomagnetic results from Neogene sedimentary sequences from the Betic chain (Spain) are here presented. Sedimentary basins located in different areas were selected in order to obtain paleomagnetic data from structural domains that experienced different tectonic evolution during the Neogene. Whereas no rotations have been evidenced in the Late Tortonian sediments in the Guadalquivir foreland basin, clockwise vertical axis rotations have been measured in sedimentary basins located in the central part of the Betics: the Aquitanian to Messinian sediments in the Alcalà la Real basin and the Tortonian and Messinian sediments in the Granada basin. Moreover, counterclockwise vertical axis rotations, associated to left lateral strike-slip faults have been locally measured from sedimetary basins in the eastern Betics: the Middle Miocene to Lower Pliocene sites from the Lorca and Vera basins and, locally, the Tortonian units of the Huercal-Overa basin. Our results show that, conversely from what was believed up to now, paleomagnetic rotations continued in the Betics after Late Miocene, enhancing the role of vertical axis rotations in the recent tectonic evolution of the Gibraltar Arc.     

Development of northwest Pacific guyots: General results from Ocean Drilling Program legs 143 and 144

Results of the Ocean Drilling Program legs 143 and 144, which investigated the nature and origin of seven guyots in the northwest Pacific Ocean, document a history of prolonged volcanism (128–84 Ma), followed by subsidence, accumulation of shallow-water carbonates, emersion following a sea-level fall, then continued subsidence, and drowning. Generally, the life span of a guyot is of the order of 5–20 million years. The stratigraphic sequence in each guyot consists of 3–10 m-thick, shoaling-upward cycles, which display a 100-Ka periodicity perhaps related to sea-level fluctuations. The drilling results indicate that the demise of the shallow-water carbonate platforms is related to either a temporal (110–100 Ma) event or paleolatitude location (0–10°S) involving nutrient-rich water not conducive to production of calcium carbonate by shallow-water organisms. Following emergence and erosion, re-submergence occurred during a rise of sea-level. However, the rate of sediment accumulation was unable to keep pace with the rate of sea-level rise and the guyots drowned. Subsidence continued as the lithospheric plate cooled. The majority of guyots are now at ~ 1500 m below sea-level. Plate movements over the past 100 million years have carried the guyots from ~ 14°S to their current location in the northwest Pacific. Guyots are flat-topped submerged volcanic islands capped by thick sequences of shallow-water carbonates. The flat-top morphology is constructional, not related to wave planation as originally thought and reported in most textbooks.     

Lopingian (Late Permian) foraminiferal faunal succession of a Paleo-Tethyan mid-oceanic carbonate buildup: Shifodong Formation in the Changning–Menglian Belt, West Yunnan, Southwest China

This paper deals with a Lopingian (Late Permian) foraminiferal faunal succession of the Shifodong Formation in the Changning–Menglian Belt, West Yunnan, Southwest China, which has been geologically interpreted as one of the closed remnants in East Asia of the Paleo‐Tethys Ocean. The Shifodong Formation is the uppermost stratigraphic unit in thick Carboniferous–Permian carbonates of the belt. These carbonates rest upon bases consisting of oceanic island basalt and are widely accepted as having a Paleo‐Tethyan mid‐oceanic (seamount‐ or oceanic plateau‐top) origin. Sixteen taxa of fusuline foraminifers and 37 taxa of smaller (non‐fusuline) foraminifers are recognized from the type section of the Shifodong Formation located in the Gengma area of the northern part of the Changning–Menglian Belt. Based on their stratigraphic distribution, three fusuline zones can be established in this section: they are, in ascending order, the Codonofusiella cf. C. kwangsiana Zone, Palaeofusulina minima Zone, and Palaeofusulina sinensis Zone. These three biozones are respectively referable to the Wuchiapingian, early Changhsingian, and late Changhsingian, of which the Wuchiapingian is first recognized in this study in the Changning–Menglian mid‐oceanic carbonates. The present study clearly demonstrates that the foraminiferal fauna in a Paleo‐Tethyan pelagic shallow‐marine environment still maintained high faunal diversity throughout the almost entire Lopingian, although the very latest Permian fauna in the upper part of the Palaeofusulina sinensis Zone of the Shifodong section records a sudden decrease in both faunal diversity and abundance. Moreover, the Shifodong faunas are comparable in diversity with those observed in circum‐Tethyan shelves such as South China. The present Paleo‐Tethyan mid‐oceanic foraminiferal faunas are definitely more diversified than coeval mid‐oceanic Panthalassan faunas, which are typically represented by those from the Kamura Limestone in a Jurassic accretionary complex of Southwest Japan. It is suggestive that the Paleo‐Tethyan mid‐oceanic buildups presumably supplied a peculiarly hospitable habitat for foraminiferal faunal development in a pelagic paleo‐equatorial condition.     

A Paleogene magmatic overprint on Cretaceous seamounts of the western Pacific

The West Pacific Seamount Province (WPSP) represents a series of short-lived Cretaceous hotspot tracks. However, no intraplate volcanoes in advance of petit-spot volcanism erupted near a trench have been identified after the formation of the WPSP on the western Pacific Plate. This study reports new ages for Paleogene volcanic edifices within the northern WPSP, specifically the Ogasawara Plateau and related ridges, and Minamitorishima Island. These Paleogene ages are the first reported for basaltic rocks on western Pacific seamounts, in an area that has previously only yielded Cretaceous ages. The newly found Paleogene volcanisms overprint the Early–middle Cretaceous volcanic edifices, because the seamount or paleo-island material-covered reefal limestone caps on these edifices are uniformly older than the Paleogene volcanism identified in this study. This study outlines several possible causative factors for the Paleogene volcanism overprinting onto existing Cretaceous seamounts, including volcanism related to lithospheric stress, or a younger hotspot track within the northern part of the WPSP that records magmatism from ~60 Ma.     

Rb–Sr isochron ages of the Cretaceous granitoids in the Ryoke belt, Kinki district, Southwest Japan

Abstract Granitoids are widely distributed in the Ryoke belt and have been divided into four main igneous stages based on their field setting. In this paper, we present Rb–Sr isochron ages for the younger Ryoke granitoids (second stage to fourth stage) in the Kinki district. The Yagyu granite (second stage) gave a Rb–Sr whole‐rock isochron age of 74.6 ± 10.9 Ma with an initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of 0.70938 ± 0.00016, and a Rb–Sr mineral isochron age of 71.8 ± 0.1 Ma. The Narukawa granite (second stage) yielded a Rb–Sr mineral isochron age of 79.5 ± 0.4 Ma. A Rb–Sr whole‐rock isochron age of 78.3 ± 3.0 Ma with an initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of 0.70764 ± 0.00014 was obtained for the Takijiri adamellite (third stage). The Katsuragi quartzdiorite (fourth stage) gave a Rb–Sr whole‐rock isochron age of 85.1 ± 18.3 Ma (initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of 0.70728 ± 0.00006), and mineral isochron ages of 76.9 ± 0.5 Ma and 74.8 ± 0.5 Ma. The Minamikawachi granite (fourth stage) gave a Rb–Sr whole‐rock isochron age of 72.8 ± 2.0 Ma with an initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of 0.70891 ± 0.00021. These age data indicate that the igneous activity in younger Ryoke granitoids of Kinki district occurred between 80 and 70 Ma, except for the Katsuragi quartz diorite. The isotopic data on the various igneous stages in Kinki district correspond with the relative timing from field observations. Based on the initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios, the granitoids of the Ryoke belt in Kinki district are spatially divided into two groups. One is granitoids with initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of 0.707–0.708, distributed in the southern part of the Ryoke belt. The other is granitoids with initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of 0.708–0.710 distributed in the northern part of the Ryoke belt. The initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of granitoids increase with decreasing (becoming younger) Rb–Sr whole‐rock isochron ages.     

Rb–Sr and Sm–Nd isotopic studies of mafic igneous rocks from the Ryoke plutono-metamorphic belt in the Setouchi area, Southwest Japan: implications for the genesis and thermal history

Abstract Rb–Sr and Sm–Nd isochron ages were determined for whole rocks and mineral separates of hornblende‐gabbros and related metadiabases and quartz‐diorite from Shodoshima, Awashima and Kajishima islands in the Ryoke plutono‐metamorphic belt of the Setouchi area, Southwest Japan. The Rb–Sr and Sm–Nd whole‐rock‐mineral isochron ages for six samples range from 75 to 110 Ma and 200–220 Ma, respectively. The former ages are comparable with the Rb–Sr whole‐rock isochron ages reported from neighboring Ryoke granitic rocks and are thus due to thermal metamorphism caused by the granitic intrusions. On the contrary, the older ages suggest the time of formation of the gabbroic and related rocks. The initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd ratios of the gabbroic rocks (0.7070–0.7078 and 0.51217–0.51231 at 210 Ma, respectively) are comparable with those of neighboring late Cretaceous granites and lower crustal granulite xenoliths from Cenozoic andesites in this region. Because the gabbroic rocks are considered to be fragments of the lower crustal materials interlayered in the granulitic lower crust, their isotopic signature has been inherited from an enriched mantle source or, less likely, acquired through interaction with the lower crustal materials. The Sr and Nd isotopic and petrologic evidence leads to a plausible conclusion that the gabbroic rocks have formed as cumulates from hydrous mafic magmas of light rare earth element‐rich (Sm/Nd < 0.233) and enriched isotopic (?_Sr > 0 and ?_Nd < 0) signature, which possibly generated around 220–200 Ma by partial melting of an upper mantle. We further conclude that they are fragments of refractory material from the lower crust caught up as xenoblocks by granitic magmas, the latter having been generated by partial melting of granulitic lower crustal material around 100 Ma.     

The δ13C–δ18O variations in marble in the Hida Belt,Japan

Marble has a great potential to understand a history of various geological events occurring during tectonic processes. In order to decode metamorphic–metasomatic records on C–O isotope compositions of marble at mid-crustal conditions, we conducted a C–O–Sr isotope study on upper amphibolite-facies marbles and a carbonate–silicate rock from the Hida Belt, which was once a part of the crustal basement of the East Asian continental margin. Carbon and oxygen isotope analyses of calcite from marbles (Kamioka area) and a carbonate–silicate rock (Wadagawa area) show a large variation of δ¹³C [VPDB] and δ¹⁸O [VSMOW] values (from −4.4 to +4.2 ‰ and +1.6 to +20.8 ‰, respectively). The low δ¹³C values of calcites from the carbonate–silicate rock (from −4.4 to −2.9 ‰) can be explained by decarbonation (CO₂ releasing) reactions; carbon–oxygen isotope modeling suggests that a decrease of δ¹³C strongly depends on the amount of silicate reacting with carbonates. The occurrence of metamorphic clinopyroxene in marbles indicates that all samples have been affected by decarbonation reactions. All δ¹⁸O values of calcites are remarkably lower than the marine-carbonate values. The large δ¹⁸O variation can be explained by the isotope exchange via interactions between marble, external fluids, and/or silicates. Remarkably low δ¹⁸O values of marbles that are lower than mantle value (~+5 ‰) suggest the interaction with meteoric water at a later stage. Sr isotope ratios (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.707255–0.708220) might be close to their protolith values. One zircon associated with wollastonite in a marble thin-section yields a U–Pb age of 222 ± 3 Ma, which represents the timing of the recrystallization of marble, triggered by H₂O-rich fluid infiltration at a relatively high-temperature condition. Our isotope study implies that the upper amphibolite-facies condition, like the Hida Belt, might be appropriate to cause decarbonation reactions which can modify original isotope compositions of marble if carbonates react with silicates.