Paleocene alkaline volcanism in the Nares Strait region: evidence from volcanic pebbles

Paleogene sediments in fault-bounded basins on Judge Daly Promontory, northeast Ellesmere Island, Canadian High Arctic, are rich in volcanogenic material. Volcanic pebbles within the Cape Back basin near Nares Strait were studied for their petrography, geochemistry, Sr and Nd isotopes, and geochronology to identify and characterize their parent rock. The pebbles are derived from lava flows and ignimbrites of a continental rift-related, strongly differentiated, highly incompatible element enriched, alkaline volcanic suite, the proposed Nares Strait volcanic suite, which is distinct from other alkaline volcanic suites on the northern coasts of Ellesmere Island and Greenland. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar amphibole and alkali feldspar ages indicate that volcanism was active around 61–58 Ma and was probably contemporaneous with sedimentation resulting in Middle to Late Paleocene age for deposition within the Cape Back basin and the other Paleogene basins on Judge Daly Promontory.     

Anyui Volcano in Chukotka: Age,structure, pecularities of rocks’ composition and eruptions

The study of lavas and pyroclastics from Anyui Volcano made it possible to reconstruct succession of its eruption events. The age of the eruption is estimated by isotopic methods to be 0.248 ± 0.030 Ma. It is established that the last episode of volcanic activity in northeastern Russia occurred 0.2?0.5 Ma ago (in its continental part, 0.2?0.3 Ma ago). This episode is chronologically close to the last peak in activation of volcanism in the Arctic and Subarctic regions. The absence of features indicating glacial influence on lavas from Anyui Volcano provides grounds for an assumption that no significant glaciations took place in the continental areas of western Chukotka during the last 250 ka.     

青藏高原新生代火山作用与构造演化

青藏高原的新生代火山作用是印度-亚洲大陆碰撞的火山响应,它显示了系统的时、空变化。随着印度-亚洲大陆碰撞从~65 Ma的接触-碰撞(即"软碰撞")转变到~45 Ma的全面碰撞(即"硬碰撞"),火山作用也逐渐从钠质+钾质变为钾质-超钾质+埃达克质。65~40 Ma的钾质和钠质熔岩主要分布于藏南的拉萨地块,少量分布于藏中的羌塘地块。从45~26 Ma,在藏中的羌塘地块中广泛发育钾质-超钾质熔岩和少量埃达克岩。随后的碰撞后火山作用向南迁移,在拉萨地块中产生~26~10 Ma间的同时代超钾质和埃达克质熔岩。尔后,从~18 Ma始,钾质和少量埃达克质火山作用重新向北,在西羌塘和松潘-甘孜地块中呈广泛和半连续状分布。此种时-空变异对形成青藏高原的深部地球动力学过程提供了重要约束。该过程包括:已消减的新特提斯大洋板片的回转、断离及随后增厚拉萨岩石圈根的去根作用,及因此而造成的印度岩石圈向北下插。青藏高原的隆升是自南向北穿时发生的。高原南部被创建于渐新世晚期,并保持至今;直到中新世中期,由于下插印度岩石圈的持续向北推挤,西羌塘和松潘-甘孜岩石圈的下部开始塌陷和拆离,高原北部才达到其现今的高度和规模。     

Hunter–Bowen deformation in South Percy Island,northeastern Australia

South Percy Island is located approximately 50 km off the central Queensland coast and comprises a disrupted ophiolite mass alongside a diverse array of metamorphosed felsic and mafic rocks that record several episodes of magmatism, volcanism and deformation from the Permian to Early Cretaceous. This paper aims to constrain the age, affinity and deformation history of these units, as well as to establish the tectonic significance of the terrane. The trace-element compositions of mafic and felsic meta-igneous rocks record a change from MORB-like prior to ca 277 Ma to subduction-related by ca 258 Ma. Overprinting relationships between intrusive phases and deformation features reveal a relative chronology for the tectonothermal evolution of the area, while U–Pb and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology provides absolute age constraints. Deformation is localised around a NNE-striking tectonic contact that separates serpentinised ultramafic rocks from metamorphosed pillow lavas. Early formed ductile fabrics associated with the main episode of deformation (D₁) preserve bulk flattening strains at greenschist-facies conditions. Emplacement and post-kinematic cooling ages of a pre-D₁ quartz-monzonite dyke constrain the age of D₁/M₁ deformation and metamorphism to the period between ca 258 and ca 248 Ma. Minor brittle deformation (D₂) occurred at ca 230 Ma, based on U–Pb dating of a syn-D₂ diorite dyke (ca 231 ± 10 Ma) and several ca 230 Ma ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar cooling ages. The deformation, metamorphism, and supra-subduction zone magmatism preserved on South Percy Island is correlated with the nearby Marlborough Terrane and more broadly with the second pulse of the Hunter–Bowen Orogeny, which affected much of the central and northern parts of eastern Australia in the late Permian and Early Triassic. Our results support previous suggestions that the second pulse of the Hunter–Bowen Orogeny involved coeval thrust systems in both the inboard and outboard parts of the orogen.     

The Piànico tephra: an early Middle Pleistocene record of intraplate volcanism in the Mediterranean

ABSTRACT Distal tephra are a valuable record of the volcano-tectonic evolution of an area under study. Here, we document the case of the Early Middle Pleistocene rhyolitic tephra of Piànico, discovered in the Southern Italian Alps. The geochemical characteristics of Piànico are unique among the distal tephra outcropping in Italy and indicate an intraplate volcanism at the source. The alkali composition and trace elements show a striking resemblance with the rhyolitic complex of the Euganean Hills, located 170 km from Piànico. However, these rhyolites are much older (Oligocene). Alternatively, the source of this intraplate volcanic episode could be located in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea.     

Upper Ordovician olistostromes of the Agyrek and Kosgombai mountains: Problems of correlation between Lower Paleozoic sedimentary and sedimentary-volcanogenic complexes in central Kazakhstan

The analysis of data on the stratigraphy of Lower Paleozoic sedimentary and sedimentary-volcanogenic sequences in central Kazakhstan made it possible to specify their ages, structural relationships, and correlation with coeval sections of neighboring areas. It is shown that olistostromes widespread in the Agyrek-Arsalan accretionary wedge of the central Kazakhstan Paleozoides are of Katian age. Three stratigraphic units are defined in continuous siliceous sections: Paracordylodus gracilis Beds, Periodon flabellum Beds, and Paroistodus horridus Beds. It is established that Lower Cambrian carbonate-basaltic, Middle-Upper Cambrian carbonate, Upper Cambrian-Lower Ordovician carbonate-terrigenous, and Lower-Middle Ordovician volcanogenic, tuffaceous-siliceous, and siliceous sequences associated with serpentinite melange belong to different lithotectonic zones of Early Paleozoic basins.     

Potassium‐argon ages on the Cainozoic volcanic rocks of New South Wales

During the Cainozoic there was widespread volcanism, mainly basaltic, in eastern New South Wales. Numerous new K‐Ar ages, together with previously published results, provide information on the age of virtually all the main volcanic provinces, and indicate that the volcanism started about 70 m.y. ago in the Late Cretaceous, and was continuous from about 60 m.y. ago (Palaeocene) until about 10 m.y. ago (middle Miocene). There has been no volcanic activity since 10 m.y. ago.

The ages of uplift of the Eastern Highlands are estimated from the relationship of the dated basaltic flows to the topography. A major uplift is deduced some time between the mid‐Cretaceous and late Oligocene, followed by a quiescent period. A further uplift started some time after the middle Miocene, and it continues to the present day. The highland was uplifted differentially both along and transverse to the axis.     

The Mineralogy and Petrology of Mount Suswa, Kenya

Mount Suswa, a Quaternary volcano in the Rift Valley of Kenya,is composed of sodalite-trachytes, sodalite-phonolites, andphonolites, the majority of which are mildly peralkaline. Thelavas are predominantly feldspathic with phenocrysts of alkalifeldspar and, less commonly, slightly sodic augite and fayaliticolivine. The groundmass typically contains alkali feldspar,augite, titanomagnetite, and may in addition contain sodalite,nepheline, alkali amphibole, aenigmatite, and glass. The lavasof four stratigraphically distinct episodes can be distinguishedon the basis of mineralogy and chemical composition. These lavasare the products of at least three parental magmas, none ofwhich appears to be a derivative of the other. Each ‘magmatype’ represents an independent episode of magma generation,emplacement, and eruption. The order of eruption in the finalepisode corresponds to increasing peralkalinity and undersaturationwith respect to silica, and indicates that these lavas weregenerated via the tapping of a differentiating magma, with thefirst lavas being the least differentiated. Utilizing coexistingfeldspar, residual glass, and bulk rock compositions, the derivationof peralkaline phonolitic residual liquids from a trachyticparent is shown to be a process controlled by feldspar fractionation.     

Petrology and Geochemistry of the Bandas del Sur Formation, Las Canadas Edifice, Tenerife (Canary Islands)

The Bandas del Sur Formation preserves a Quaternary extra-calderarecord of central phonolitic explosive volcanism of the LasCañadas volcano at Tenerife. Volcanic rocks are bimodalin composition, being predominantly phonolitic pyroclastic deposits,several eruptions of which resulted in summit caldera collapse,alkali basaltic lavas erupted from many fissures around theflanks. For the pyroclastic deposits, there is a broad rangeof pumice glass compositions from phonotephrite to phonolite.The phonolite pyroclastic deposits are also characterized bya diverse, 7–8-phase phenocryst assemblage (alkali feldspar+ biotite + sodian diopside + titanomagnetite + ilmenite + nosean–haüyne+ titanite + apatite) with alkali feldspar dominant, in contrastto interbedded phonolite lavas that typically have lower phenocrystcontents and lack hydrous phases. Petrological and geochemicaldata are consistent with fractional crystallization (involvingthe observed phenocryst assemblages) as the dominant processin the development of phonolite magmas. New stratigraphicallyconstrained data indicate that petrological and geochemicaldifferences exist between pyroclastic deposits of the last twoexplosive cycles of phonolitic volcanism. Cycle 2 (0·85–0·57Ma) pyroclastic fall deposits commonly show a cryptic compositionalzonation indicating that several eruptions tapped chemically,and probably thermally stratified magma systems. Evidence formagma mixing is most widespread in the pyroclastic depositsof Cycle 3 (0·37–0·17 Ma), which includesthe presence of reversely and normally zoned phenocrysts, quenchedmafic glass blebs in pumice, banded pumice, and bimodal to polymodalphenocryst compositional populations. Syn-eruptive mixing eventsinvolved mostly phonolite and tephriphonolite magmas, whereasa pre-eruptive mixing event involving basaltic magma is recordedin several banded pumice-bearing ignimbrites of Cycle 3. Theperiodic addition and mixing of basaltic magma ultimately mayhave triggered several eruptions. Recharge and underplatingby basaltic magma is interpreted to have elevated sulphur contents(occurring as an exsolved gas phase) in the capping phonoliticmagma reservoir. This promoted nosean–haüyne crystallizationover nepheline, elevated SO₃ contents in apatite, and possiblyresulted in large, climatologically important SO₂ emissions. KEY WORDS: Tenerife; phonolite; crystal fractionation; magma mixing; sulphur-rich explosive eruptions     

Magma Genesis and Mantle Dynamics at the Harrat Ash Shamah Volcanic Field (Southern Syria)

A geochemical and petrological study of Miocene to recent alkalibasalts, basanites, hawaiites, mugearites, trachytes, and phonoliteserupted within the Harrat Ash Shamah volcanic field was performedto reconstruct the magmatic evolution of southern Syria. Themajor element composition of the investigated lavas is mainlycontrolled by fractional crystallization of olivine, clinopyroxene,± Fe–Ti oxides and ± apatite; feldspar fractionationis restricted to the most evolved lavas. Na₂O and SiO₂ variationswithin uncontaminated, primitive lavas as well as variably fractionatedheavy rare earth element ratios suggest a formation by variabledegrees of partial melting of different garnet peridotite sourcestriggered, probably, by changes in mantle temperature. The isotopicrange as well as the variable trace element enrichment observedin the lavas imply derivation from both a volatile- and incompatibleelement-enriched asthenosphere and from a plume component. Inaddition, some lavas have been affected by crustal contamination.This effect is most prominent in evolved lavas older than 3·5Ma, which assimilated 30–40% of crustal material. In general,the periodicity of volcanism in conjunction with temporal changesin lava composition and melting regime suggest that the Syrianvolcanism was triggered by a pulsing mantle plume located underneathnorthwestern Arabia. KEY WORDS: ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages; intraplate volcanism; mantle plume; partial melting; Syria     

祁连山新元古代中—晚期至早古生代火山作用与构造演化

祁连山地区的新元古代中—晚期至早古生代火山作用显示系统地时、空变化,其乃是祁连山构造演化的火山响应。随着祁连山构造演化从Rodinia超大陆裂谷化—裂解,经早古生代大洋打开、扩张、洋壳俯冲和弧后伸展,直至洋盆闭合、弧-陆碰撞和陆-陆碰撞,火山作用也逐渐从裂谷和大陆溢流玄武质喷发,经大洋中脊型、岛弧和弧后盆地火山活动,转变为碰撞后裂谷式喷发。850~604 Ma的大陆裂谷和大陆溢流熔岩主要分布于祁连和柴达木陆块。从大约550 Ma至446 Ma,在北祁连和南祁连洋-沟-弧-盆系中广泛发育大洋中脊型、岛弧和弧后盆地型熔岩。与此同时,在祁连陆块中部,发育约522~442 Ma的陆内裂谷火山作用。早古生代洋盆于奥陶纪末(约446 Ma)闭合。随后,从约445 Ma至约428 Ma,于祁连陆块北缘发育碰撞后火山活动。此种时-空变异对形成祁连山的深部地球动力学过程提供了重要约束。该过程包括:(1)地幔柱或超级地幔柱上涌,导致Rodinia超大陆发生裂谷化、裂解、早古生代大洋打开、扩张、俯冲,并伴随岛弧形成;(2)俯冲的大洋板片回转,致使弧后伸展,进而形成弧后盆地;(3)洋盆闭合、板片断离,继而发生软流圈上涌,诱发碰撞后火山活动。晚志留世至早泥盆世(420~400 Ma),先期俯冲的地壳物质折返,发生强烈的造山活动。400 Ma后,山体垮塌、岩石圈伸展,相应发生碰撞后花岗质侵入活动。     

Rhyolites contaminated with metapelite and gabbro,Lipari, Aeolian Islands,Italy: products of lower crustal fusion or of assimilation plus fractional crystallization?

Pleistocene lavas from Monte S. Angelo and Chiesa Vecchia volcanoes on Lipari contain two suites of inclusions. A metapelitic suite consists of gneisses and granulites with combinations of cordierite, garnet, corundum, hercynite, andalusite, sillimanite, orthopyroxene, ilmenite, magnetite, biotite, plagioclase, and quartz. A gabbroic suite has cumulus texture and contains plagioclase, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, and magnetite. All megacryst phases in the lavas appear to be derived from rock fragments, with the exception of euhedral strongly zoned calcic plagioclase, and none has grown by homogeneous nucleation from liquid represented by the groundmass, which is peraluminous rhyolite (>70 wt% SiO₂, >6 wt% K₂O). Ground-mass microcrysts were nearly all derived from disaggregated metapelites; overgrowths of alkali feldspar on plagioclase and of orthopyroxene on clinopyroxene, and quartz intergrown with alkali feldspar, are the only phases that grew from the rhyolitic liquid. Euhedral cordierite, hercynite, and plagioclase at the margins of some rock fragments grew by reaction of metapelite with liquid.For grains in contact within metapelite inclusions, geothermometers and geobarometers yield estimates of equilibration conditions in the range of 800±100° C and 5±1 kbar. Compositions of phases in the same thin section, but not in the same inclusion, yield broadly erratic P and T estimates indicating disequilibrium among metapelite inclusions. Pyroxene thermometry in the gabbro suite indicates a crystallization temperature of 1020±50° C and a lack of subsequent thermal equilibration with the rhyolitic liquid.The metapelite suite may partly be restite, but much is xenolithic, derived from a vertical interval of perhaps several kilometers, and may have undergone a much earlier episode of melting. The gabbro fragments are accidental xenoliths incorporated as the magma rose. Contaminants (metapelite and gabbro) account for 50 vol.% of the lavas, and cause them to be classified as high-K andesite according to whole-rock major element analysis.The rhyolitic liquid may have originated by partial fusion of metapelites in the lower crust, or by fractional crystallization of mafic mantle-derived magma combined with assimilation of metapelite; the bulk of the evidence favors assimilation-fractional crystallization. Miocene and younger metapelite-contaminated rhyolites also occur in Tuscany, SE Spain, E Morocco, and NW Tunisia, and are associated in each region with mafic silica-undersaturated lavas, implying crustal underplating around the western Mediterranean before, during, and after formation of the Tyrrhenian basin.     

Tholeiitic and alkalic basalts of the oldest Pacific Ocean crust

Approximately 160 Ma old basaltic lavas obtained from ODP Site 801 in the Pigafetta Basin represent the first Jurassic oceanic crust recovered in the Pacific Ocean and the oldest in situ oceanic crust discovered anywhere. The basement consists of an upper alkali olivine basalt sequence and a lower tholeiitic sequence separated by a yellow Fe-rich hydrothermal sedimentary deposit. The aphyric and sparsely plagiodase-olivine±spinel phyric tholeiites exhibit depleted, open–system fractionated characteristics with trace element abundances and Pb–Nd isotopic compositions similar to normal mid-ocean ridge basalts (N-MORB). The aphyric alkali basalts, although showing some overlap in isotopic composition with MORB, exhibit strong similarities in terms of incompatible element abundances to ocean island basalts (OIB). They could represent either OIB-type off-axis volcanism or an alkalic event possibly associated with the waning stages of spreading axis volcanism in the Pigafetta Basin. All lavas have undergone low-grade anoxic smectite–carbonate alteration, although flows underlying the Fe-rich sediments have suffered hydrothermal alteration and fracturing.     

Geochronology and magmatic evolution of the Huautla volcanic field: last stages of the extinct Sierra Madre del Sur igneous province of southern Mexico

The Huautla volcanic field (HVF), in the Sierra Madre del Sur (SMS), is part of an extensive record of Palaeogene magmatism reflecting subduction of the Farallon plate along the western edge of North America. Igneous activity resulting from Farallon subduction is also exposed to the north, in the Sierra Madre Occidental (SMO) and Mesa Central (MC) provinces. We present the results of a stratigraphic and K–Ar, Ar–Ar, and U–Pb geochronological study of the Huautla volcanic successions, in order to refine our knowledge on the petrologic and temporal evolution of the northern SMS and gain insights on magmatic–tectonic contrasts between the SMS and the SMO–MC provinces. The HVF is made up of lava flows and pyroclastic successions that overlie marine Cretaceous sequences and post-orogenic continental deposits of Palaeogene age. In the study area, the main Oligocene succession is pre-dated by the 36.7 million years its caldera west of the Sierra de Huautla. The HVF succession ranges in age from ～33.6 to 28.1 Ma and comprises a lower group of andesitic–dacitic lava flows, an intermediate sequence of ignimbrites and dacitic lavas, and an upper group of andesitic units. The silicic succession comprises a crystal-poor ignimbrite unit (i.e. the Maravillas ignimbrite; 31.4 ± 0.6, 32.0 ± 0.4 Ma; ～260 km³), overlain by a thick succession of dacitic lavas (i.e. the Agua Fría dacite; 30.5 ± 1.9, 31.0 ± 1.1 Ma). Integration of the new stratigraphic and geochronological data with prior information from other explosive centres of the north-central SMS allows us to constrain the temporal evolution of a silicic flare-up episode, indicating that it occurred between 37–32 Ma; it consisted of three major ignimbrite pulses at ～36.5, ～34.5, and ～33–32 Ma and probably resulted from a progressive, mantle flux-driven thermomechanical maturation of the continental crust, as suggested in the HVF by the transition from andesitic to voluminous siliceous volcanism. The information now available for the north-central sector of the SMS also allows recognition of differences between the temporal and spatial evolution of magmatism in this region, and of that documented in the southern SMO and MC provinces, suggesting that such contrasts are probably related to local differences in configuration of the subduction system. At ～28 Ma, the MC and southern SMO provinces experienced a trenchward migration of volcanism, associated with slab rollback; on the other hand, the broad, more stable distribution of Oligocene magmatism in the central and north oceanic plate was subducting at a low angle.     

Petrology and Geochemistry of Post-Collisional Early Miocene Volcanism in the Karacada? Area (Central Anatolia, Turkey)

Early Miocene (ca.?21–18 Ma) volcanism in the Karacada? area comprises three groups of volcanic rocks: (1) calcalkaline suite (andesitic to rhyolitic lavas and their pyroclastics), (2) mildly-alkaline suite (alkali basalt, hawaiite, mugearite, benmoreite and trachydacite), and (3) a single trachyandesitic flow unit. Field observations, 40Ar/39Ar ages and geochemical data show that there was a progressive temporal transition from group 1 to 3 in a post-collisional tectonic setting. The calcalkaline suite rocks with medium-K in composition resemble those of subduction-related lavas, whereas the mildly-alkaline suite rocks having a sodic tendency (Na2O/K2O=1.5–3.2) resemble those of within-plate lavas. Incompatible element and Sr-Nd isotopic characteristics of the suites suggest that the lithospheric mantle beneath the Karacada? area was heterogeneously enriched by two processes before collision: (1) enrichment by subduction-related processes, which is important in the genesis of the calcalkaline volcanism, (2) enrichment by small degree melts from the astenosphere, which dominates the mildly alkaline volcanism. Perturbation of the enriched lithosphere by either delamination following collision and uplift or removal of the subducted slab following subduction and collision (i.e., slab breakoff) is the likely mechanism for the initiation of the post-collision volcanism.     

Source, genesis, and timing of giant ignimbrite deposits associated with Ethiopian continental flood basalts

The Ethiopian continental flood basalt (CFB) province (∼30 Ma, > 3 × 10⁵ km³) was formed as the result of the impingement of the Afar mantle plume beneath the Ethiopian lithosphere. This province includes major sequences of rhyolitic ignimbrites generally found on top of the flood basalt sequence. Their volume is estimated to be at least 6 × 10⁴km³, which represents 20% of that of the trap basalts. Their phenocryst assemblage (alkali feldspar, quartz, aegyrine-augite, ilmenite ± Ti-magnetite, richterite, and eckermanite) suggests temperatures in the range of 740 to 900°C. Four units were recognized in the field (Wegel Tena, Jima, Lima Limo, and Debre Birhan areas), each with its own geochemical specificity. Zr/Nb ratios remain constant between basalt and rhyolite in each area, and rhyolites associated with high-Ti or low-Ti basalts are, respectively, enriched or depleted in titanium. Their trace element and isotope (Sr, Nd, O) signatures (high ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd and low ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios, compared to those of rhyolites from other CFB provinces) are clearly different from those of typical crustal melts and indicate that the Ethiopian rhyolites are among the most isotopically primitive rhyolites. Their major and trace element patterns suggest that they are likely to be derived from fractional crystallization of basaltic magmas similar in composition to the exposed flood basalts with only limited crustal contribution. Since Ethiopian high-Ti basalts have been shown to form from melting of a mantle plume, it is likely that Ethiopian ignimbrites, at least those that are Ti-rich, also incorporated material from the deep mantle.Rb-Sr isochrons on whole rocks and mineral separates (30.1 ± 0.4 Ma for Wegel Tena and 30.5 ± 0.4 Ma for Jima ignimbrites) show that most of the silicic volcanism occurred within < 2 Ma during the Oligocene. Ignimbritic eruptions resumed in the Miocene during two episodes dated at 15.4 ± 0.2 Ma and 8.0 ± 0.2 Ma for the Debre Birhan area. The Rb-Sr isochron ages of ignimbrites (both Oligocene and Miocene rhyolites) are indistinguishable within uncertainties from the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of the underlying flood basalts. The Oligocene ignimbrites and the underlying trap basalts are synchronous with a shift in the oxygen composition of foraminifera recorded in Indian and Atlantic Ocean cores. The temporal coincidence of Ethiopian Oligocene volcanism, which released immense volumes of S (> 1.4 × 10¹⁵ mol) and Cl (6.4 × 10¹⁵ mol) into the atmosphere over a short time span, with the global cooling event at 30.3 Ma suggests that this volcanism might have accelerated the climate change that was already underway.     

A new 40Ar/39Ar eruption age for the Mount Widderin volcano,Newer Volcanic Province,Australia, with implications for eruption frequency in the region

The Mount Widderin shield volcano is located near Skipton, western Victoria, in the Western Plains subprovince of the monogenetic Pliocene–Holocene Newer Volcanic Province (NVP). Radiometric ages for lavas in the Hamilton–Skipton–Derrinallum area are few, owing to limited suitable outcrop for K–Ar or ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology studies. Existing age constraints for flows in this area have been inferred from Regolith Landform Units (RLUs), complemented by a small number of K–Ar studies on ≥1 Ma flows. Although the RLU approach provides a valuable overview of relative eruption ages across the NVP, it is of limited use in eruption frequency studies. Additional radio-isotopic ages are required to refine age ranges for individual RLUs, and to validate previous assignment of individual flows to specific RLUs. We report a new, high-precision ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age of 389 ± 8 ka (2σ) for a Mount Widderin basalt sample. Based on this age and geomorphic observations, we propose that both the Widderin and Elephant lava flows be reassigned from the Eccles RLU to the Rouse RLU. We use the 389 ± 8 ka (2σ) age for Widderin, along with published K–Ar ages, to anchor a stratigraphic sequence of 15 individual flows in the Hamilton–Skipton–Derrinallum area, demonstrating that intermittent volcanism has occurred in this area from ≥3 Ma to ≤0.389 Ma. Within the limits of available data for the NVP, this time span of volcanic activity is second only to that of the Melbourne area. We consider the significance of the Widderin eruption age, in conjunction with published age constraints for maars and scoria cones of the Western Plains subprovince, building on previous studies that have focused solely on lava flow ages. The inclusion of the additional data weakens the argument for a decrease in volcanic activity after ca 0.9 Ma as implied by published ages for lava flows only. Additional detailed combined geochronology–geomorphology studies of lavas, scoria cones and maars in strategically selected small areas are advocated to better understand eruption frequency across the NVP.     

Oligocene–Miocene geodynamic evolution of the central part of Urumieh-Dokhtar Arc of Iran

Basic volcanic rocks from Tafresh, west Kashan, and west Nain volcanic successions in the central part of Urumieh-Dokhtar Magmatic Assemblage (UDMA) of Iran yield K–Ar ages ranging from 26.8 to 18.2 Ma. These ages indicate significant Late Oligocene–Early Miocene basic volcanism in the UDMA. These ages, combined with K–Ar ages of 26.0 and 14.1 Ma, respectively, for associated low-silica and high-silica adakites, help constrain reconstructions of the UDMA geodynamic evolution. Late Oligocene–Early Miocene slab roll-back associated with an asthenospheric mantle influx are suggested as the major processes responsible for concurrent volcanism showing Nb–Ta-depleted, Nb–Ta-enriched and low-silica adakite signatures. Slab roll-back, the likely consequence of a decrease in subduction velocity, led to partial melting of the subducted slab and produced Early–Middle Miocene high-silica (dacitic) adakites. Oligocene to Miocene volcanic rocks do not conform to the Oligocene continental collisional model for the UDMA, rather they suggest a decrease in the subduction rate that prompted the asthenospheric mantle influx.     

Atypical hotspot chains: evidence for a secondary melting zone below the Marquesas (French Polynesia)

The atypical age/distance to the hotspot relationships observed for the Marquesas linear chain, which present a considerable scatter, are best explained considering (1) a Pacific plate motion of 10.5 cm yr^?1 in the N115°E direction and (2) rejuvenation of volcanism in Ua Huka island. New K–Ar ages show that the main hotspot activity in Ua Huka emplaced successively shield olivine tholeiites and post‐shield alkali basalts between 3.11 ± 0.04 and 2.43 ± 0.04 Ma. Then, after a quiescence period of 1.28 ± 0.06 Myr, two small basanitic volcanoes were emplaced between 1.15 ± 0.02 and 0.763 ± 0.013 Ma. With respect to the main hotspot volcanics, their lavas originated from weaker partial melting rates of a deeper source. Field, petrologic and geochemical arguments are consistent with the existence of a secondary melting zone located c. 140 km downstream the Marquesas hotspot, which produced the rejuvenated volcanics.     

Late Oligocene Kangaroo Well Local Fauna from the Ulta Limestone (new name), and climate of the Miocene oscillation across central Australia

The Late Oligocene Kangaroo Well Local Fauna from the Ulta Limestone (new name), northwestern Lake Eyre Basin correlates best with vertebrate assemblages from the Etadunna, Namba and Wipajiri Formations of the central Lake Eyre Basin, and from the Carl Creek Limestone (Karumba Basin) of northwestern Queensland. The biochronologically informative marsupials, Neohelos tirarensis (Diprotodontidae, Zygomaturinae), Marlu sp. cf. M. kutjamarpensis and Pildra sp. cf. P.magnus (Pseudocheiridae), and Ektopodon ulta sp. nov. (Ektopodontidae), indicate that the Kangaroo Well Local Fauna may be slightly older than the Kutjamarpu Local Fauna (Wipajiri Formation) and slightly younger than the Ngama Local Fauna (zone D of the Etadunna Formation) of Late Oligocene age. A new species of primitive ?Wynyardiidae, Ayekaye jaredi sp. nov., is described, and the nomenclature of two extinct gastropods, Glyptophysa rodingae (McMichael) and Cupedora Iloydi (McMichael) (new combinations), the type localities of which are in the Ulta Limestone, is revised in line with current taxonomy. The Ulta Limestone, an alluvial calclithite composed primarily of caliche fabrics, and its correlatives were deposited during the Miocene oscillation climatic event. Palaeoclimatic modelling using sedimentological data, crocodilians and extant analogs of fossil terrestrial gastropods indicates that the average annual temperature at Kangaroo Well during the Late Oligocene was probably between 14 and 20°C, while mean annual rainfall was probably <600 mm. Similar associations from central parts of the Lake Eyre Basin, from Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland, and from Bullock Creek, north‐central Northern Territory, indicate that such conditions were widespread during depositional phases of the Miocene oscillation. Palaeoclimatic indicators do not support the presence of widespread closed forests in northwestern Queensland and across the inland of the Northern Territory and South Australia during the Miocene oscillation.