Late Mesozoic palaeomagnetism from Spitsbergen; implications for continental drift in the Arctic

Thermal and alternating-current demagnetization combined with ore microscopy and measurements of the temperature dependence of saturation magnetization have been carried out on some Mesozoic, probably Cretaceous, basaltic lavas from two areas (Seidfjell and Sørlifjell) at Spitsbergen. The experimental studies suggest that the Seidfjell locality has undergone extensive oxidations, which resulted in remagnetization. The estimated palaeomagnetic pole for this area is 77°N 107°E, which suggests a remagnetization, probably some time in the Late Tertiary. On the other hand the experimental data from the Sørlifjell locality suggest that the magnetization is primarily of deuteric origin. The mean palaeomagnetic pole position for this latter formation is at 75°N 235°E, which is significantly different from previously published European Mesozoic data. However, closing the Neo-Arctic basin by rotating Spitsbergen towards the Lomonosov Ridge, makes the suggested Cretaceous pole coincide with poles of similar age from North-America. This suggests that the estimated pole from Sørlifjell is a good approximation for a Late Mesozoic palaeomagnetic pole for Europe and it also confirms that the process of continental separation in the Arctic has taken place in Tertiary time.     

The geological diversity of island arc volcanism: Northeast Russia

Paleovolcanological and paleotectonic reconstructions developed for the continent-ocean transition zone in Northeast Asia demonstrate a high diversity of island arc volcanic settings. There are two main types of island arc volcanism recognized so far, (i) volcanic arcs of euliminary systems (VAES) and (ii) intrageosynclinal volcanic arcs, including areas of insular volcanism (IIV). The volcanic arcs of euliminary systems include the present-day Kuril-Kamchatka, Aleutian, and the Paleozoic- Early Cretaceous Taigonos volcanic arcs. The latter is considered to be a part of the Talovka-Taigonos euliminary system (TTES), an old double island arc system analogous to present-day systems, the Kuril-Kamchatka and Aleutian ones. Both the TTES and similar present-day euliminary systems are structural complexes that confine concentrically-zoned geosyncline areas on the side of the Pacific. The characteristic features of the VAES include a long history of evolution, stable (calc-alkaline) basalt-andesite composition of volcanic products, and transverse geochemical zonation. Geophysical evidence reveals the complicated processes of endogenous crustal accretion and destruction of continental crust within the VAES zones. The IIV follow the structural pattern of the corresponding geosynclinal system. Their evolution is relatively short, while the spatial position and the composition of their magmatic bodies may considerably vary at different stages of evolution of the geosynclinal systems. Most island arc zones are characterized by calc-alkaline volcanism, but potassium alkaline, alkali-ultrabasic, and ultrabasic rocks also occur in some structures. The settings of intrageosynclinal insular volcanism are diverse and include (a) volcanic overcompensation, (b) geoanticlinal uplift, and (c) volcanotectonic downwarping during the orogenic stage of geosynclines. The calc-alkaline volcanism of island environments in geoanticline zones is likely related to the endogenous accretion of continental crust within a geosyncline system. Intrageosynclinal island-arc volcanism is still very poorly understood. Investigation of this phenomenon is one of the urgent tasks of paleovolcanology.     

The ocean floor morphostructure of the Bay of Bengal (Indian Ocean) and the problem of its origin

This study is based on the geological and geophysical data obtained in the Bay of Bengal and adjacent part of the Mid-Indian Ocean Basin by different Russian scientific and industrial institutions in the 1980s and 1990s. The results of the more recent foreign investigations are also involved. The analysis of the collected data provided a new insight into the geological structure and evolution of the region indicating that a large dry-land area—the Bengal elevation—existed in the Cretaceous at the location of the present-day Bay of Bengal. During the Cretaceous, the geological evolution of this area was controlled by epicontinental sedimentation and active volcanism. In the Late Cretaceous, progressive submersion with the inception of the Central Basin took place in the region. The subsidence of the basement was accompanied by active differentiated tectonic movements in the southern part of the Bay of Bengal. As a result, the basement experienced fragmentation into blocks with the formation of horst and graben structures. The horst relics eventually submerged to the current depths in the Late Miocene–Pliocene. The maximal amplitude of basement submersion within the bay is more than 11 km.     

Remagnetization in tertiary rocks from the Faeroe Islands

Palaeomagnetic investigations of highly oxidized interbasaltic horizons and associated Lower Tertiary lavas from the Faeroe Islads suggest a long history of magnetization. The remanence directions are composed mostly of two deviating directions of opposite polarities aligned along an axis which palaeomagnetically appears to be younger than that of the original field. This, in addition to the observation that both the baking and baked rocks in most cases show almost identical directional trends upon demagnetization, questions the general validity of the baked contact test. It is suggested that to a major extent post-baking processes, such as low-temperature oxidation and precipitation of ferric oxides, have remagnetized the lavas as well as the tuff layers. Only two of the seven interbasaltic horizons investigated appear to have retained the ‘primary’ magnetization. It is concluded that besides a high bulk oxidation state (induced prior to, or as a result of baking) a “hornfelsic” nature of the baked sediments may be a necessary requirement for establishing primary palaeomagnetic directions in many volcanic regions.     

First samples of acoustic basement recovered from the alpha ridge, Arctic ocean: New constraints for the origin of the ridge

The Alpha Ridge is one of three subparallel trending ridges that cut the Arctic Ocean. It is roughly Late Cretaceous to Eocene in age, and seismic refraction records suggest it comprises a thick sequence of oceanic crust. During the 1983 CESAR expedition 20 similar samples of acoustic basement were dredged from the walls of a major graben of the Alpha Ridge, at one site. These are the only basement samples ever recovered from the ridge and provide the first direct evidence for its nature, composition and possible origin.The basement samples are highly altered pyroclastic rocks composed almost entirely of basaltic volcanic clasts with little matrix. Although the rocks are highly altered, most primary textures and structures are preserved. Most clasts are highly amygdaloidal to scoriaceous, fine grained to glassy, and angular to subround with rare vesicle controlled boundaries. Little reworking is suggested because a single clast type predominates, many of the clasts are subangular, and any amount of reworking would result in destruction of the delicate scoriaceous clasts.Rare clinopyroxene phenocrysts comprise the only unaltered portion of the rocks. They are salitic in composition (Wo_49–53, En_32–41, Fs_11–15), with significant amounts of Ca, Al and Ti. Salitic clinopyroxenes are typical of alkalic basalts.Interpretation of the whole rock geochemistry based on relatively immobile elements, (Nb, Zr, Tio₂, and Y), and chondrite-normalized incompatible trace element and REE patterns indicates that the volcanic rock fragments are of alkalic basalt. Geochemical discriminators suggest a within-plate tectonic setting.Textural evidence suggests that the CESAR basement rocks were sampled from a rapidly emplaced submarine fallout deposit that was erupted at a depth at least less than 800 m and likely less than 200 m. High extrusive rates would have been required to build the ridge up to shallow depth prior to the cessation of volcanism. The alkalic affinity of the rocks strongly suggests that the Alpha ridge was not formed by volcanism at an island arc or a mature spreading centre. It is also unlikely that it formed as a “leaky” fracture zone. Alkalic basalts, however, are commonly associated with various types of oceanic aseismic ridges. It is suggested that the Alpha Ridge is an aseismic ridge that formed due to voluminous hotspot volcanism as spreading began in the Canada Basin. Such hotppot activity may have been responsible for initiating the rifting, breakup, and dispersal that eventually formed the Canada Basin.     

Jabal al Wask,northwest Saudi Arabia: An Eocambrian back-arc ophiolite

Field, petrographic and geochemical criteria identify the Eocambrian, 500 km², mafic-ultramafic complex of Jabal al Wask as an ophiolite possibly formed in a back-arc environment. It is one of several ultramafic bodies that lie in NW-SE zones across western Arabia and northeast Africa. The basement between these zones is mainly granitic and seemingly developed by the cratonization of island arcs. It is suggested that the ultramafic zones are sutures between these arcs and that the ophiolites represent oceanic lithosphere remnants of back-arc seas.As palaeomagnetic evidence precludes any extensive movement of individual arcs, a palaeogeographic situation analogous to that of present-day southwest Pacific is envisaged.     

The history of the Cretaceous environments of the northeastern Asian continental margin, Russia

Abstract The Cretaceous geodynamic and paleogeographic evolution of the northeastern Asian continental margin is summarized in five maps for time-intervals of 115-110, 100-90, 90-85, 85-74 and 70-50 Ma. Four major evolutionary stages are recognized: (i) the moderate extensional tectonic regime and origination of a system of island arcs in the Jurassic-Neocomian stage; (ii) Middle Cretaceous strong collisional and accretional processes resulting in the Asian continent formation in the Barremian-Early Albian stage; (iii) the origination of the subduction-related Okhotsk-Chukotka continental marginal volcanic belt in relation to the newly formed convergent plate boundary in the Late Albian-Senonian stage; and (iv) the next collision accompanied by the extinction of the subduction-related volcanism in the Late Cretaceous-Early Paleocene stage (Laramian orogeny) and displayed rift-related processes with the intraplate-type volcanism on the Asian continental margin. Those stages had been established through the whole Pacific ring and had close genetic relationships with mid-ocean ridges tectonic activity.     

Palaeomagnetism and K/Ar results from the Duncansby volcanic neck,NE Scotland: superimposed magnetizations,age of igneous activity,and tectonic implications

The Duncansby volcanic neck, intruding the Middle Devonian red beds of north Caithness, Scotland, has revealed two significantly different axes of magnetization, yielding pole positions at 149°E, 24°N and 126.5°E, 60°N, respectively. The first pole, which is interpreted as corresponding to the oldest magnetization, is in perfect agreement with Devonian polar estimates from west of the Great Glen Fault. It is tentatively suggested therefore that the Duncansby neck correlates with the Late Devonian volcanism in the nearby Orkney Islands though palaeomagnetism allows an upper age estimate of around Middle Carboniferous. The data support an earlier proposition of there being a palaeomagnetic discordance across the Great Glen Fault that can be interpreted in terms of a large-scale late- or post-Devonian transcurrent movement along this fracture zone. The original (? Late Devonian) magnetization has been nearly completely erased by the second phase of magnetization which, according to its pole position, most likely dates from about the Middle Jurassic. The latter magnetization is thought to be a consequence of burial, the coastal districts of Caithness having participated in the general subsidence of the North Sea area in late Palaeozoic and Mesozoic times. The burial magnetization, involving VPTRM and or TCRM processes, is considered to have been “frozen-in” as a result of uplift in connection with the well-documented mid-Jurassic tectonic phase that affected the northern North Sea basin, including the adjacent Moray Firth area. K/Ar analyses of the Duncansby intrusion give apparent ages ranging from 258 to 239 Ma. These dates, which lie between the two geological events inferred from palaeomagnetism, are not seen as true rock ages but rather as the result of a partial Ar loss during burial reheating.     

Recent seismicity of southeastern Ghana

Recent studies of DSDP samples from layer 2A of oceanic basement have found complex magnetic stratigraphies that seem incompatible with the frequent existence of linear short-wavelength anomalies caused by palaeomagnetic field behavior. Statistical models are developed for the lateral variation of the average magnetization of layer 2A: a Poisson series for reversals of the earth's field and a stairstep random series for discrete magnetic units. It is shown with the power-density spectra of these statistical models that lateral inhomogeneities must average out over distances of less than a few hundred meters. Specifically, individual magnetic units of the type seen at DSDP Site 332 cannot extend uniformly for distances greater than a few hundred meters.     

A multicomponent,dual-polarity palaeomagnetic regional overprint from the Moine of northwest Scotland

Palaeomagnetic remanence may be reset by orogeny in a manner analogous to isotopic systems. The heavy mineral seams and associated psammite in the deformed and metamorphosed Lower Morar Division of the Moine Assemblage of northwest Scotland have a palaeomagnetic signature that is characteristic over a wide area. The various components of the magnetization are resolved by detailed thermal demagnetization. These components are post-tectonic, as they are not affected by any structural fabric. They may be classified according to blocking temperature and, when statistically distinguishable, show a systematic change of direction from high to lower temperature possibly associated with apparent polar wander. Comparison to the European palaeomagnetic record suggests a late Silurian to early Devonian age of magnetization for the localities south of the Strath Conon Fault. The distribution of remanance directions and blocking temperatures is not consistent with the pattern of potassium-argon ages in this part of the British Caledonides. If the magnetization is purely of thermal origin, the palaeomagnetic record indicates higher temperatures at later time than does the potassium-argon record. This remagnetization event is related to the closing stages of the Caledonian orogeny.     

Palaeomagnetism of some Precambrian rocks in south-east Greenland

A palaeomagnetic pole is established at 25.1°N 273.9°E (dp = 10.6°, dm = 14.3°) from the norite-charnockite complex at Angmagssalik, emplaced at 1800 Ma. A somewhat older palaeomagnetic pole at 4.2°S 246.7°E (dp = 4.2°, dm = 8.3°) is obtained from Archaean gneisses close to the northern boundary of the Nagssugtoqidian mobile belt; reversals of magnetization are present here. Both magnetizations were imposed during slow cooling following the (late) Nagssugtoqidian metamorphism.In general the gneisses, dyke amphibolites and granite of the Nagssugtoqidian mobile belt are unstably magnetized; their magnetization is attributable to the Earth's present field, and is often extremely weak.A pseudotachylyte within the Archaean gneisses has had a long cooling history. A fragment of the remanence reflects the magnetization characteristic of the Archaean gneisses, whereas most of the magnetization corresponds to a palaeomagnetic pole near that of the Angmagssalik complex. The pseudotachylyte is much older than its magnetizations.An apparent polar wander path is presented for Greenland at ca. 1750 Ma based on the above results and data from west Greenland.     

Curvature of convergent boundaries

Abstract It is well known that knowledge about convergent boundary geometry is crucial for global geodynamical reconstructions. At the same time, views related to the subject are controversial and speculative. For instance, island arcs, which are considered to be the most important convergent boundary structural elements, are thought to be either the parts of the small circles on the Earth's surface, or adjacent to each other as straight-line segments. Accordingly, one view says that island arcs are rectilinear rather than arched, and there are no reasons to consider their arched shape to be a rule. Is the island arc curvature invariant in time and space? General considerations, palaeomagnetic data and structural features such as strike-slip displacements of the opposite sign along the longitudinal faults on the island arc flanks, prompt the author to have a similar view to others, that is, that island arc curvature varies with time. It is worthy to note, nevertheless, that this statement could hardly be referred to as generally adopted, and it is not necessarily true. One can try to answer the second part of the question by means of mathematical statistics. Points of an island arc characterizing the geometry, such as volcanic centres or deep-trench axial line points, were led to the stereographical projection centre, where distortions are minimal. By the least squares method these points have been approximated with straight lines, circumferences and lines with variable curvature. Then by means of variance analysis the competing hypotheses have been compared. The results of the present study show that the curvature of the island arcs in the north-western Pacific varies with location. It is possible to search for relationships between island arc curvature as a measure of its bending, various physical parameters of island arc lithosphere and such recent island arc processes as volcanism, seismicity etc. Progress in this direction has already been made; namely a direct relationship between trench depth and island arc curvature has been established.     

Magnetic Basement Depth Inversion in the Space Domain

We present a total-field anomaly inversion method to determine both the basement relief and the magnetization direction (inclination and declination) of a 2D sedimentary basin presuming negligible sediment magnetization. Our method assumes that the magnetic intensity contrast is constant and known. We use a nonspectral approach based on approximating the vertical cross section of the sedimentary basin by a polygon, whose uppermost vertices are forced to coincide with the basin outcrop, which are presumably known. For fixed values of the x coordinates our method estimates the z coordinates of the unknown polygon vertices. To obtain the magnetization direction we assume that besides the total-field anomaly, information about the basement’s outcrops at the basin borders and the basement depths at a few points is available. To obtain stable depth-to-basement estimates we impose overall smoothness and positivity constraints on the parameter estimates. Tests on synthetic data showed that the simultaneous estimation of the irregular basement relief and the magnetization direction yields good estimates for the relief despite the mild instability in the magnetization direction. The inversion of aeromagnetic data from the onshore Almada Basin, Brazil, revealed a shallow, eastward-dipping basement basin.     

Crustal structure and origin of the northeast Japan arc

Abstract Northeast Japan is a typical island arc region and its topographic arrangement reflects the geophysical characteristics of the island arc system. However, the structural style of the arc is very complicated and varied due to the repeated superposing of faults and folds on to earlier structures.
Geotectonic events that involved creation of the fundamental framework of the island arc crust occurred in east Asia in the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous and were probably induced by accretion and collision tectonics. The fragmentation and subsequent displacement of the crust took place during the Early Neogene in response to the terrane collision and the change in oceanic plate motion, leading to the opening of the Japan Sea. Huge amounts of volcano-sedimentary rocks buried the tilted fault blocks of pre-Tertiary basement with the development of the island arc.     

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.     

Secular changes,polarity epochs and tectonic movements as indicated by palaeomagnetic studies of Hungarian rock samples

Summary The paper contains an outline of the palaeomagnetic investigations in Hungary including some of their geophysical and geological applications. More than 500 samples of volcanic rocks were studied by usual palaeomagnetic techniques. The rocks investigated belong to three different geological periods — the Quaternary — upper Tertiary, the middle Miocene and the lower Cretaceous. The palaeomagnetic data obtained for the individual localities are summarized in the Appendix.Paper presented at the IAGA Symposium Madrid, September 1969.     

The South American palaeomagnetic data and the main episodes of the fragmentation of Gondwana

The South American palaeomagnetic poles published after the Upper Mantle Conference on Solid Earth Problems held at Buenos Aires in 1970, are summarized.The Late Palaeozoic-Cretaceous section of the South American polar wandering curve is now defined on the basis of twenty palaeomagnetic poles; these poles define five “age groups” at Late Carboniferous, Permo-Carboniferous, Middle Permian, Triassic and Cretaceous times.The comparison of the Late Palaeozoic-Mesozoic sections of the polar wandering curves of South America, Australia and Africa suggests that the former fragmentation of the Gondwana occurred in Late Carboniferous or Permo-Carboniferous times and that the origin of the South Atlantic Ocean took place after the Middle Jurassic (160 m.y.) but before the Early Cretaceous (120 m.y.).     

40Ar/39Ar ages for the alkaline volcanism and the basement of Gorringe Bank,North Atlantic ocean

Gorringe Bank is situated on the Europe-Africa plate boundary at the eastern end of the Azores-Gibraltar fracture zone. It has two summits, Gettysburg Bank to the Southwest and Ormonde Bank to the northeast.We applied the⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar stepwise heating method to date six samples of the alkaline volcanic rocks, two gabbros from the Ormonde Bank and a dolerite from the Gettysburg Bank. The results that the alkaline volcanism lasted probably for less than 6 Ma(66-60 Ma).Although the nature of this volcanism precludes any subduction feature during its setting, the alkaline volcanism of Ormonde is probably linked to Upper Cretaceous/Eocene compressive tectonic events.The basement rocks of Gorringe Bank reveal distrubed⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age spectra. One plagioclase and one biotite from a gabbro give evidence for a thermic event whose age is tentatively estimated at about 75 Ma, and related to a variation in the direction of the relative movement between Europe and Africa. The more probable age given by a plagioclase of another gabbro and by a dolerite (110 Ma) corresponds to tilting northeastward of the Gorringe massif.     

Magnetic properties of the Lower Old Red Sandstone lavas in the Midland Valley,Scotland; palaeomagnetic and tectonic considerations

Thermal demagnetization studies of lavas in the Strathmore area of the Midland Valley, Scotland, support overall palaeomagnetic data found in previous studies of these rocks. Reduced directional scatter as compared to some earlier studies, is attributed to more effective demagnetization, resolving some of the directional complexity of previous studies. Combined magnetic fabric and directional analysis suggest that at least some deviating directions may be explained by local tectonism. The existence of almost antiparallel directional groups and field tests give supporting evidence for a “primary” (deuteric) origin of the main magnetization of these rocks. Additionally, a second remanence component having shallow reverse directions of magnetization, is attributed to later remagnetization in Old Red Sandstone time. The Midland Valley results are seen in conjunction with other Palaeozoic palaeomagnetic results and possible geodynamic implications are discussed.     

Ar–Ar geochronology of Santo Antão, Cape Verde Islands

Santo Antão, the northernmost island of the Cape Verde Archipelago, consists entirely of silica-undersaturated volcanic products and minor intrusions. ⁴⁰Ar–³⁹Ar incremental heating experiments have been carried out on 24 samples that cover the entire exposed chronological sequence. The oldest lavas (7.57±0.56 Ma), representing an older volcanic basement, are exposed about 620 m above mean sea level. After an interval of quiescence of up to 4.3 Ma the volcanic activity resumed and continued at low eruption rates. The older basement is unconformably overlain by a ca. 810-m-thick lava sequence that spans an age range from 2.93±0.03 to 1.18±0.01 Ma. This sequence is cut by many dykes and sills. Simultaneous volcanic activity occurred in the northeastern, central and eastern part of the island. A phonolitic pumice deposit that forms a noteworthy feature over most of the island has an estimated age of 0.20 Ma. This predates volcanic activity that formed the highest point of the island (Tope de Coroa) which has an age of 0.17±0.02 Ma. The most recent eruption on the island formed nephelinitic lavas in the Porto Novo region at 0.09±0.03 Ma. The oldest volcanism exposed on Santo Antão, which took place about 7.6 Ma ago, was simultaneous with waning activity on Maio at the eastern end of the Cape Verde Archipelago.