Mechanics of growth of some laccolithic intrusions in the Henry mountains, Utah, II: Bending and failure of overburden layers and sill formation

Deformation of host rocks during growth of a laccolithic intrusion is analyzed using the theory of bending a stack of thin elastic plates. The theoretical model suggests that magma spreading laterally in the form of a sill will eventually gain sufficient leverage on the overlying strata to deflect them upward and form a laccolith. The amount of bending increases as the fourth power of the distance the magma spreads, whereas the overburden resists bending as the third power of its effective thickness. Effective thickness is the thickness of a single layer which has the same resistance to bending as a multilayer of similar length and elastic modulus. The effective thickness of overburden in the Henry Mountains is estimated as between and of the actual thickness. The form of bending is similar for Newtonian, pseudoplastic, and Bingham magmas. The magnitude of the bending depends upon the total upward force and its distribution and is not simply related to magma viscosity as has been suggested by several previous investigators.After elastic bending strata should fail over the periphery of an intrusion, the site of maximum bending strain and differential stress predicted by the theory. Field observations described in Part I correlate well with these predictions. Because bending strains are proportional to layer thickness, strata of comparable strength but different thicknesses fail at different stages of laccolith development. This leads to the different cross-sectional forms of laccoliths observed in the field.The effect of host rocks on sill form and growth is analyzed using the elastic solution for an elliptical hole under uniform pressure. The theory suggests that sill thickness increases in proportion to length. The concentration of high stresses near the sill termination should induce permanent deformation and account for the blunt terminations described in Part I. This blunting is most likely to occur in relatively ductile rocks whereas sills simply split brittle rocks and maintain sharp terminations. The driving pressure in sills can be calculated from measurements of length and termination radius of curvature, if the yield strength of the host rocks can be estimated. This driving pressure must be greater than the overburden pressure, but sills apparently do not form or propagate by lifting their overburdens. Instead they propagate by locally deforming the host rock. After spreading over a distance about three times the effective overburden thickness, the overlying layers begin to bend upward significantly. This stage marks the transition from a sill to a laccolithic intrusion.     

Monoclinal bending of strata over laccolithic intrusions

Sedimentary strata on top of some laccolithic intrusions are nearly horizontal and little deformed, but are bent into steeply dipping monoclinal flexures over the peripheries of these intrusions. This form of bending is not explained by previous theories of laccolithic intrusion, which predict either horizontal undeformed strata over the center and faulted strata around the periphery, or strata bent continuously into a dome. However, a slight generalization of these theories accomodates the observed form and contains the previous forms as special cases. A critical assumption is that the strength of contacts within a multilayered overburden is overcome locally by layer-parallel shear. If this strength is less than the strength of the layers themselves, then layers over the center remain bonded together and display negligible bending, whereas layers over the periphery slip over one another and are readily bent into a monoclinal flexure.     

Mechanics of growth of some laccolithic intrusions in the Henry mountains, Utah, I: Field observations, Gilbert's model, physical properties and flow of the magma

The shapes of sills and laccolithic intrusions and associated host rock deformation were studied at several locations on the flanks of the Henry Mountains. Diorite sills range from 0.5 to 10 m in thickness, are less than 1 km² in areal extent, and have blunt terminations. The laccolithic intrusions range from 10 to 200 m in thickness, and from 1 to 3 km² in areal extent. The host rock, principally sandstone and shale, is deformed along closely spaced cataclastic shear planes. This deformation is concentrated at contacts, especially near sill terminations and over laccolith peripheries. The diorite contains plagioclase phenocrysts which are usually sheared in a thin zone adjacent to each contact. Field observations suggest that sills are the forerunners of laccolithic intrusions which form only after magma has spread far enough laterally (greater than about 1 km² in the Henry Mountains) to gain leverage to bend the overburden upward. Further injection of magma results in laccolithic peripheries or terminations with one of three distinct cross-sectional forms: (1) blunt termination of the diorite accompanied by bending and minor faulting of the host rock; (2) termination at a peripheral diorite dike cutting upward across the host rock; or (3) abrupt termination of the diorite against a nearly vertical fault zone.In order to study some of the processes of sill and laccolith intrusion, mechanical models for the driving pressure, physical properties, and flow behavior of the diorite magma are derived and discussed. A static driving pressure (equal to the difference between total magma pressure and lithostatic pressure) of up to 700 bar is estimated. The rheological behavior of the magma in the Henry Mountains is unknown. However, flow behavior is calculated assuming three of the more common models for fluids: Newtonian viscous, pseudoplastic, and Bingham. Suspended crystals probably contributed to the finite strength of the magma (estimated to be at least 10³ dyn/cm² for the Henry Mountains magma) which enables it to support dense zenoliths and also fixes maximum limits on the lengths of sills or dikes. Pressure in magma flowing along tabular intrusions of uniform thickness drops linearly in the flow direction for all three rheological materials. Thickening of tabular intrusions tends to make the pressure drop less rapidly, but pressure drops more rapidly in the tapered region near a termination. Pressure distributions under these and other conditions are derived in order to use them in the models of host rock deformation presented in Part II.     

Toward more realistic formulations for the analysis of laccoliths

The published laccolith analyses are based on the linear plate bending theory and the a priori assumption that the width of the laccolith is fixed. This is not the case in an actual situation. The dimension of the laccolith in the horizontal plane has to result from an additional matching condition at the separation lines. The published analyses are generalized by dropping the a priori assumption that the width of the laccolith is prescribed, by assuming that the magmatic pressure is not constant, and by taking into consideration the vertical compressibility of the overburden “plate” and base in the contact region. In order to determine the magnitude of the magmatic pressure, a condition is postulated that equates the measured volume of the intruded magma in a laccolith with the corresponding analytical expression for the volume. The obtained closed-form solution appears to satisfy many of the intuitive expectations. It was evaluated numerically and the results are presented as graphs. It may be concluded that even very small laccoliths may exist, provided the magmatic pressure is sufficiently larger than the overburden weight. We also show the dependence of the laccolith size on its stratigraphic position; the thicker the overburden h the larger the size of the laccolith, for an overburden plate of given thickness, the larger the volume V of the intruded magma, the larger the laccolith width 2a and its height. The paper concludes by discussing a published analysis for laccolith with flexible underburden and overburden. It is shown that this analysis is based on a formulation that is of questionable validity.     

白云凹陷浅成岩浆侵入体发育特征、成因及油气地质意义

珠江口盆地白云凹陷内发育大量早中新世(约15.5 Ma)浅成岩浆侵入体(侵入深度<3 km).目前对其形态特征、相互关系以及岩浆侵入诱发的强制褶皱等尚缺乏系统研究.通过利用高精度三维地震资料,细致刻画了侵入体的形态、岩浆运移通道以及岩床复合体内各岩床的空间关系,定量分析了强制褶皱与侵入体的几何关系.白云凹陷内岩浆侵入体...     

Physical modelling of sand injectites

Sand injectites are structures that result from intrusion of fluidized sand into fractures. We have studied them in the Tampen Spur area of the North Sea, and have reproduced them experimentally, by driving compressed air through layers of sand, glass microspheres, and silica powder. The silica powder was cohesive and capable of hydraulic fracturing, whereas the sand and glass microspheres were almost non-cohesive and therefore able to fluidize. The models were dynamically similar to their natural counterparts, for as long as equilibrium was static. When the processes became dynamic, so that inertial forces were significant, the scaling was approximate and the corresponding Reynolds numbers differed. The experimental apparatus was a square box, 1 m × 1 m wide, resting on a grid of fluid diffusers. During the experiments, the fluid pressure increased, until it attained and surpassed the weight of overburden. Flat-lying hydraulic fractures, containing air, formed within cohesive and least permeable layers. Heterogeneities in material properties and layer thicknesses were responsible for localizing fracture networks. When any one network broke through to the surface, rapid flow of air through the fractures fluidized the underlying mobile materials and even depleted some of the layers. Some of the fluidized material extruded at the surface through vents, forming volcanoes and sheets. The remainder lodged at depth, forming sand injectites or laccoliths. Conical sand injectites formed preferentially, where layers had high resistance to bending. Laccoliths formed nearer the surface, where overlying layers had low resistance to bending. The experimental sand injectites were broadly similar to those in the Tampen Spur area of the North Sea, as well as other areas.     

塔里木盆地库鲁克塔格地区二叠纪末-中三叠世基性岩床的发现及其地质意义

新疆塔里木盆地东北缘库鲁克塔格地区的中寒武统莫合尔山组沉积地层中发现三条形成于二叠纪末到中三叠世的基性岩床。三条岩床沿沉积岩层面顺层侵入,按照从下到上的顺序,分别为辉绿岩床(厚3m)、辉长岩床(厚20m)和粗玄岩床(厚2.5m)。三条岩床的地球化学特征相似,稀土含量高(∑REE=210×10^-6~297×10^-6),轻稀土元素富集((La/Yb)_N =13.54~17.96),Eu负异常不明显(δEu=0.97~1.21),Ce稍具正异常(δCe=1.11~1.25)。大离子亲石元素(Rb、Ba、Th、Sr)富集,Sr具明显正异常; Ta、Nb和Hf具负异常。低氧化度(0.13~0.40)。三条岩床为同源岩浆活动的产物,岩浆源于上地幔或下地壳,但有下陆壳成分混染。三个样品的MgO含量在4%~6%之间,Mg^#值在37.6~55.6之间,固结指数SI值位于18.7~29.3之间,反映原始的岩浆经历了比较明显的分异作用。粗玄岩床K-Ar年龄为255.2±7.3Ma,辉绿岩床K-Ar年龄为242.8±5.7Ma,辉长岩床Ar-Ar年龄为229.7±3.7Ma。本次岩浆侵入事件发生在南天山洋闭合之后,构造背景为造山后碰撞伸展环境。     

Microstructural evidence for crystallization regimes in mafic intrusions: a case study from the Little Minch Sill Complex,Scotland

The magma forming the 20 m thick crinanitic/picrodoleritic Dun Raisburgh sill, part of the Little Minch Sill Complex of NW Scotland, comprised a mafic carrier liquid with a crystal cargo of plagioclase and olivine (1 vol%). The olivine component of the cargo settled on the floor of the intrusion while the more buoyant plagioclase component remained suspended during solidification, resulting in a relatively high plagioclase content in the centre of the sill. The settled olivine grains form a lower fining-upwards sequence overlain by a poorly sorted accumulation formed of grains that grew within the convecting magma. The accumulation of olivine on the sill floor occurred over 5–10 weeks, synchronous with the upwards-propagation of a solidification front comprising a porous (~?70 vol% interstitial liquid) plagioclase-rich crystal mush.     

Disequilibrium partial melting and rheomorphic layer formation in the contact aureole of the Basistoppen sill,East Greenland

The tholeiitic Basistoppen sill was intruded into the upper part of the Skaergaard complex shortly after the Skaergaard magma had solidified. Heat from the cooling Basistoppen magma caused disequilibrium partial melting in the adjacent Skaergaard ferrogabbros. Olivine, ferrobustamite, and magnetite were selectively melted and removed from the rock as an iron-rich melagabbro magma. Plagioclase acted as a refractory phase during partial melting and was left behind as an anorthositic gabbro restite. Modal and grain-size layering formed rheomorphically in the previously solidified host rocks as a result of partial melting and recrystallization. The rheomorphic layers are distinct from those found elsewhere in the intrusion.The extreme degree of contact metamorphism adjacent to the Basistoppen sill is a consequence of the intrusion of the sill into host rocks that were already near their melting temperature. It is suggested that the slow reaction rates between plagioclase and magma inhibited the dissolution of plagioclase relative to olivine, pyroxene, and opaque oxides and resulted in disequilibrium partial melting. The presence of anorthositic gabbro blocks within the Middle Zone of the Skaergaard intrusion indicates that disequilibrium partial melting may also occur during the assimilation of gabbroic xenoliths by magmas.     

Experiments simulating surface deformation induced by pluton emplacement

We present centrifuge experiments to study the surface deformation induced by shallow pluton emplacement in a rheologically stratified crust. Sand simulates the topmost brittle crust; plastilina and denser silicone represent more and less competent crustal portions, respectively; lighter silicone simulates a buoyant intrusion. In the models, density differences affect the rate of intrusion but not their evolution or shape, whereas viscosity and strength stratifications control both the shape and rate of the intrusions. With a higher viscosity contrast (10^2–4) between the intrusion and the embedding media, the rise of the lighter silicone induces a laccolith-like intrusion, responsible for doming and thinning of the overburden; an apical depression may form, inducing silicone extrusion. Conversely, with a lower (10¹) viscosity contrast, the overburden and the intrusion exhibit a lens-shaped form, with a broad central depression bordered by an upward flexure towards the periphery. A sag in the floor of the intrusion is commonly observed; no silicone extrusion occurred. The intrusion is a hybrid between a laccolith and a lopolith. The comparison with nature (1) confirms roof uplift as an important means of accommodating space during pluton emplacement and (2) suggests that, where roof uplift plays a major role, pluton emplacement can induce a well-correlated sequence of events at surface: doming, the development of a depression and extrusion.     

Chemical variation induced by flow differentiation in an extensive Karroo dolerite sheet,southern Namibia

Chemical relations in an extensive Karroo dolerite sheet are consistent with large-scale phenocryst redistribution during intrusion of a tholeiitic magma. Flow differentiation provides a mechanism for inward migration of early olivine, plagioclase and augite, resulting in a total phenocryst population concentrated in and roughly symmetrically distributed about the centre of the sill. The inferred early phenocryst content of the magma varies by a factor of two from 23 wt% at the margins to 50 wt% in the centre of the sill. Chilled dolerite from the sill margins is the most phenocryst-poor material and is not representative of the bulk magma. Integration over height in the sill provides the best approximation to the bulk composition. No significant lateral variation in bulk sill chemistry is detected over a distance of 20 km.     

Variscan stress regime rotation: Insights from the analysis of kink folds in the northern margin of the Bohemian Massif,South Poland

We aimed to determine variations in stress regimes during the youngest Variscan deformations in the northern part of the Bohemian Massif. For this purpose, we calculated the orientation of the principal stress and strain axes for kink folds observed in the metamorphic envelope of the Karkonosze Granite, using two methods: 1) the traditional method, incorporating structural diagrams (for conjugate kink folds only), and 2) butterfly diagram analysis. The use of both methods enabled us to determine the stress regime, based not only on conjugate but also on monoclinal kink bands. The obtained results prove that butterfly diagram analysis, when applied to monoclinal kink folds, yields reliable results, especially when calibrated using the internal friction angle (Ф) calculated for the conjugate structures.We identified two generations of kink folds: 1) an older one, developed under sublatitudinal shortening and most probably related to the Early Carboniferous terminal stages of the northwest-directed thrusting of the metamorphic units, and 2) a younger one; produced by north-south Variscan Carboniferous compression, and the emplacement and subsequent doming of the Karkonosze Granite. This is the first study on brittle-ductile structures observed commonly in the metamorphic units of the Bohemian Massif, showing their relation to the granitoid intrusion and complementing the tectonic models that usually omit kink folds.     

Magma chamber growth models in the upper crust: A review of the hydraulic and inertial constraints

Finite volumes of magma moving in confinement, store hydraulic potential energy for the generation,control and transmission of power. The Pascal's principle in a hydraulic jack arrangement is used to model the vertical and lateral growth of sills. The small input piston of the hydraulic jack is equivalent to the feeder dike, the upper large expansible piston equivalent to the magmatic chamber and the inertial force of the magma in the dike is the input force. This arrangement is particularly relevant to the case of sills expanding with blunt tips, for which rapid fracture propagation is inhibited. Hydraulic models concur with experimental data that show that lateral expansion of magma into a sill is promoted when the vertical ascent of magma through a feeder dike reaches the bottom contact with an overlying, flat rigid-layer. At this point, the magma is forced to decelerate, triggering a pressure wave through the conduit caused by the continued ascent of magma further down(fluid-hammer effect). This pressure wave can provide overpressure enough to trigger the initial hydraulic lateral expansion of magma into an incipient sill, and still have enough input inertial force left to continue feeding the hydraulic system. The lateral expansion underneath the strong impeding layer, causes an area increase and thus, further hydraulic amplification of the input inertial force on the sides and roof of the incipient sill, triggering further expansion in a self-reinforcing process. Initially, the lateral pressure increase is larger than that in the roof allowing the sill to expand. However, expansion eventually increases the total integrated force on the roof allowing its uplift into either a laccolith, if the roof preserves continuity, or into a piston bounded by a circular set of fractures. Hydraulic models for shallow magmatic chambers, also suggest that laccolith-like intrusions require the existence of a self-supported chamber roof. In contrast, if the roof of magmatic chambers loses the self-supporting capacity, lopoliths and calderas should be expected for more or less dense magmas, respectively, owing to the growing influence of the density contrast between the host rock and the magma.     

Bubbling Magma Chambers,Cupolas, and Porphyry Copper Deposits

Porphyry copper deposits are the major source of copper and significant sources of molybdenum, gold, and other metals. They are associated with the near-surface intrusion of small stocks of intermediate composition. They can form when H₂O-unsaturated magma is emplaced into wall rock that is cool enough that steep lateral thermal gradients create a narrow solidification front. At depths less than ～4 km, cooling and crystallization cause fluid saturation to occur within sidewall magma that is mobile because it contains less than ～25% suspended crystals. After a sufficient volume of bubbles forms, mobile sidewall magma buoyantly rises instead of sinking. The bubbles expand as they decompress, and at depths of ～2 km they become large enough to rise on their own. separate from the upwelled magma, and charge the cupola at the top of the stock with magmatic fluid. The partially degassed magma sinks into the interior of the stock.

Upwelling of saturated sidewall magma entrains deeper-seated, nearly saturated magma, which decompresses and saturates as it rises. As the system cools, the depth of H₂O saturation and sidewall upwelling increases. Bubbles of copper-rich fluid are generated where the saturation front extends to depths of ～6 km or more. Overall, the system is cooling, but the upward advection of heat maintains the cupola region at roughly constant position for the life of convective upwelling along the sidewalls.

Porphyry copper ore deposits can form where draining of the fluid pocket beneath a cupola is steady and a large volume of magma is cycled through the system. Magma in the stock that escapes to intrude commonly has a porphyritic texture because crystal growth is enhanced, and nucleation is suppressed when the magma is H₂O saturated. Porphyry copper deposits of common size can form during the solidification of large stocks. Super-giant porphyry copper deposits can form where the saturation front propagates from a stock into an underlying batholithic chamber with a magma volume on the order of 1000 km³ and a top at depths of 10 to 15 km.     

Derivation and evaluation of a mechanical model for sheet intrusions

A two-dimensional mechanical model for sheet intrusions based on the elastic deformation around a pressurized elliptical hole is derived. After evaluating the effects of irregularities in contact shape, possible magma pressure distributions, regional boundary conditions, host rock properties, and interference from adjacent intrusions the model can be applied with confidence to understand many features associated with dike or sill emplacement. Three mechanisms for sheet intrusion propagation are extension fracturing, brittle faulting, and ductile faulting. This deformation is concentrated at the intrusion termination, the site of large principal stress differences and large stress gradients. In both brittle and ductile host rock the magma pressure needs only barely to exceed the regional stress acting normal to the intrusion's length for propagation to occur. Propagation direction is controlled by the regional stress orientation, interference from adjacent intrusions, planar discontinuities, and changes in host rock properties. The classic method of distinguishing dilational from non-dilational intrusions may not work because contacts are not planar or parallel and displacements are not everywhere perpendicular to the intrusion's length. Equations are derived for calculating the magma pressure for intrusions in relatively simple tectonic settings.     

隐伏岩体顶上带与深部成矿预测

岩浆侵入的流体流动模拟表明,侵入体上方是流体聚焦流动的位置,流体通量远大于旁侧围岩,流体在此产生沸腾作用。随温度降低,侵入体上方渗透率逐渐增大,最大渗透率出现在侵入体的顶部。含水岩浆侵位后在其顶上带发生二次沸腾和减压过程,释放出的巨大机械能远大于围岩的抗张强度,足以引起围岩发生脆性破坏。岩浆岩顶上带的水饱和外壳及其围岩发生破裂形成陡倾裂隙和水力破裂。直立长椭球状岩浆体的侵入会在岩浆岩顶上带产生放射状和同心圆状裂隙,同时产生爆破角砾岩筒。因此侵入体顶上带的岩钟、岩枝、岩脉,放射状、同心圆状裂隙和角砾岩筒均为构造弱化带,是热液矿脉密集发育的部位。矿床地质学研究已充分证明,岩浆岩顶上带确是容纳与中酸性岩浆有关的热液矿床的最佳部位。在开展深部成矿预测和找矿的过程中,探寻隐伏岩体顶上带和/或岩钟,是寻找深部与花岗岩类有关的多金属矿床的捷径。     

金川含矿超镁铁岩侵入体侵位序列

金川铜镍硫化物矿床是世界第三大镍矿床,但其成岩成矿过程及侵位机制一直存在较大争论。根据金川含矿超镁铁岩岩石学特征、穿插关系、矿物成分及地球化学特征,提出了金川含矿岩体5阶段的成岩、成矿侵位序列,它们分别是:(1)超镁铁质岩浆侵位;(2)浸染状硫化物矿浆侵位;(3)网状硫化物矿浆侵位;(4)块状硫化物矿浆侵位;(5)铂钯富集体侵位。金川铜镍(铂)矿床中Ni,Cu,Pt,Pd,Rh,Ir,Ru,及Co与S呈正相关关系;当ω(S)=5%～15%时,铂族元素发生明显的分离作用,铂族金属主要富集在铂钯富集体中。铂钯富集体是硫化物矿浆经单硫化物固溶体结晶后的残余熔浆;块状矿石是单硫化物固溶体堆积而成的产物。金川铜镍硫化物矿床的侵位机制为岩墙型岩浆通道。     

Numerical investigation of the effect of volatilization and the supercritical state of pore water on maturation of organic matter in the vicinity of igneous intrusions

This study presents a numerical investigation of the effect of volatilization and the supercritical state of pore water on maturation of organic matter in host rocks based on the heat flow models assuming the instantaneous and finite-time intrusion mechanisms of magma. A 15 m thick, well-dated basic sill in the DSDP 41-368 hole near Cape Verde Rise, eastern Atlantic is selected as an example due to the sufficient thermophysical parameters of rocks and the definite burial and thermal history of the shale host rocks. Results indicate: (1) The effect of the temperature-dependent thermal properties of pore water at a hydrostatic pressure of 414 bar on the predicted vitrinite reflectance (Rr) is less than 0.1% no matter which intrusion mechanism of magma is assumed and can hence be ignored reasonably; (2) The consideration of volatilization of pore water can reduce the predicted Rr of host rocks significantly. In case of the instantaneous intrusion mechanism, the maximum deviation of the predicted Rr caused by pore-water volatilization reaches 1.3% at the location of half the sill thickness away from the contact (i.e. X/D = 0.5), and the deviation above 0.5% can occur in the region from 0.3 to 1.0 in the form of X/D. In case of the finite-time intrusion mechanism, the maximum deviation of the predicted Rr due to pore-water volatilization attains 1.15% at X/D = 0.25, and the region where the deviation is larger than 0.5% lies between 0.15 and 0.6 in the form of X/D; (3) If hydrothermal convection in the host rocks is allowed for, the predicted Rr of the overlying host rocks is less than that of the underlying host rocks at the same X/D in the inner region of the contact aureole of igneous intrusions, whereas the phenomenon is converse in the outer region. In contrast, the measured Rr profile shows that at the same X/D, Rr of the overlying host rocks is totally higher than that of the underlying host rocks. Thus, it is not the hydrothermal convection in the overlying host rocks that resulted in the asymmetry of the current Rr profiles below and above the sill; (4) The predicted Rr based on the heat conduction model assuming the finite-time intrusion mechanism and pore-water volatilization matches well with the measured one out of the region where the Rr geothermometer is unreliable due to the effect of volatilization of pore water. This demonstrates that the finite-time intrusion mechanism of magma, together with pore-water volatilization, possibly represents natural conditions.     

Crystal settling and convection in the Shiant Isles Main Sill

The 168 m-thick Shiant Isles Main Sill is a composite body, dominated by an early, 24 m-thick, picrite sill formed by the intrusion of a highly olivine-phyric magma, and a later 135 m-thick intrusion of olivine-phyric magma that split the earlier picrite into a 22 m-thick lower part and a 2 m-thick upper part, forming the picrodolerite/crinanite unit (PCU). The high crystal load in the early picrite prevented effective settling of the olivine crystals, which retain their initial stratigraphic distribution. In contrast, the position of the most evolved rocks of the PCU at a level ~80% of its total height point to significant accumulation of crystals on the floor, as evident by the high olivine mode at the base of the PCU. Crystal accumulation on the PCU floor occurred in two stages. During the first, most of the crystal load settled to the floor to form a modally and size-sorted accumulation dominated by olivine, leaving only the very smallest olivine grains still in suspension. The second stage is recorded by the coarsening-upwards of individual olivine grains in the picrodolerite, and their amalgamation into clusters which become both larger and better sintered with increasing stratigraphic height. Large clusters of olivine are present at the roof, forming a foreshortened mirror image of the coarsening-upwards component of the floor accumulation. The coarsening-upwards sequence records the growth of olivine crystals while in suspension in a convecting magma, and their aggregation into clusters, followed by settling over a prolonged period (with limited trapping at the roof). As olivine was progressively lost from the convecting magma, crystal accumulation on the (contemporaneous) floor of the PCU was increasingly dominated by plagioclase, most likely forming clusters and aggregates with augite and olivine, both of which form large poikilitic grains in the crinanite. While the PCU is unusual in being underlain by an earlier, still hot, intrusion that would have enhanced any driving force for convection, we conclude from comparison with microstructures in other sills that convection is likely in tabular bodies >100 m thickness.     

川西拉拉Fe-Cu矿区含矿镁铁质层状岩席的首次发现及其成岩成矿意义

尽管镁铁质层状侵入体得到了广泛关注,与其相关的成岩和成矿过程仍然存在很多疑问。文中首次报道了在川西拉拉Fe-Cu矿区发现的一种含矿镁铁质岩席,它的深入研究可能有助于理解拉拉Fe-Cu矿床的成因,以及层状侵入体的组装过程与成矿作用。野外观察表明,该岩席共由9个岩相带组成,相邻岩相带为侵入接触关系,上半部分和下半部分的岩性呈镜像对应。对该岩席上半部分的5个岩相带分别进行了显微镜观察、粉晶X-射线衍射分析和CSD分析,表明相邻岩相带的矿物组成和结构参数具有明显区别,揭示该岩席由4、5次岩浆脉动组装而成。各岩相带均具有显微斑状结构,其中1～4岩相带的斑晶矿物主要为角闪石、云母和Ti-Fe氧化物,第5岩相带的斑晶为白云母、钾长石和石英。此外,第3岩相带还含有大颗粒单斜辉石斑晶,第4岩相带含有方解石大斑晶。含水矿物呈斑晶产出表明所有岩相带都是挥发分(H2O+CO2)饱和或过饱和岩浆固结的产物,但各岩相带的岩浆具有不同的来源。根据斑晶(循环晶)矿物组合、定量化结构参数和参数变异趋势,推测拉拉岩席之下曾经存在3～5个位于不同深部水平上的岩浆房。这些岩浆房有不同成分的进化岩浆充填,可能富集了相应的成矿金属。当深部含矿流体输入该岩浆系统时,有可能引起骨牌效应,导致各种含矿流体大规模释放。拉拉矿区的这类岩席可能对成矿物质起到了屏蔽作用,使其大规模聚集形成超大型矿床。需要注意的是,拉拉岩席的富矿岩相带侵位时间最晚,类似于攀枝花铁矿。因此,拉拉岩席的成岩成矿模式有可能也适应于攀枝花式铁矿。