A precambrian suture in the Canadian shield

Linear belts of distinctive oceanic and geosynclinal deposits found on the continents have recently been interpreted as marking sutures or join lines between collided continents. Examples include the Indus Suture, the boundary between collided Mesozoic Indian and Laurasian continents, and the ophiolite belts of the Alps between early Tertiary and Mesozoic European and African continents. Both these sutures and other described examples are of Phanerozoic age although it has been suggested that older sutures exist.

A similar hypothesis to explain the nature of the boundary between the Churchill and Superior structural provinces is proposed which assumes that the mechanisms of plate tectonics were active in Aphebian times (2390−1640 my).

It is suggested that the Slave and Superior Archean protocontinents were once separated by Aphebian seas. The embryo Churchill Province at that time comprised a number of Archean continental fragments with associated island arcs, trenches and sedimentary basins. These coalesced during closure of the seas between the converging Slave and Superior protocontinents. Convergence was accomplished by consumption of oceanic lithosphere along several Aphebian subduction zones which caused the Hudsonian orogeny, formation of the Churchill Province, and tectonic deformation at the edges of the collided protocontinental blocks.

The suture peripheral to the Superior craton is the most easily recognized and is characterized by Aphebian geosynclinal and oceanic sedimentary, basic volcanic and ultramafic rocks, or their metamorphosed equivalents. The proposed suture extends from the Manitoba Nickel belt, via the Split Lake-Fox River region and eastern Hudson Bay, to the Cape Smith-Wakeham Bay belt and the Labrador Trough, Quebec.     

Time range of Mesozoic tectonic regime inversion in eastern North China Block

An important tectonic inversion took place in eastern North China Block(NCB) during Mesozoic, which caused a great lithosphere thinning, reconstruction of basin-range series, powerful interaction between mantle and crust, a vast granitic intrusion and volcanism, and large-scale metallogenic explosion. The time range of the Mesozoic tectonic regime inversion in the eastern North China Block is one of the key issues to understand mechanism of tectonic regime inversion. Our updated results for recognizing the time range are mainly obtained from the following aspects: structural analyses along northern and southern margins of the NCB and within the NCB for revealing tectonic inversion from compression to extension and structural striking from -EW to NNE; geothermic analyses of the eastern sedimental basins for a great change of thermal history and regime; basin analysis for basin inversion from compression to extension and basin migration from -EW to NNE; petrological and geochemical studies of volcanic roc     

Upper-miocene submarine volcanism in the strait of sicily (banco senza nome)

Two basaltic fragments dredged from a volcanic seamount in the Sicilian continental slope of the Strait of Sicily show petrochemical features typical of within plate alkalibasaltic lavas and K/Ar age of about 10 m.y. The data represent the first volcanic evidence of Upper Miocene tensional tectonics in this sector of the African plate.     

Evolution of Eolian arc volcanism (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea)

The Eolian arc is located at the boundary between the converging African and European plates. Its volcanism is characterized by a marked evolution in a restricted time (less than 1 my). A progressive transition is observed from typical calc-alkaline series toward shoshonitic rocks produced by past and present activity (Vulcano and Stromboli). By comparison with circum-Pacific island arcs, the evolution of Eolian volcanism can be related to a rapid deepening of the Benioff zone. The occurrence of shoshonitic rocks and the continental nature of the crust on both sides of the plate boundary suggest that the Eolian arc is in a senile stage of evolution. Petrology and Sr isotopic data indicate a probable mantle source for Eolian volcanism.     

Nick Rast and the recognition of the Avalonian Arc

Recognition of the eastern (Avalonian) margin of the northern Appalachian orogen as a Late Precambrian microcontinental arc terrane, rather than the opposing passive margin of the Proto-Atlantic (Iapetus) Ocean to that of eastern Laurentia, constituted a fundamental advance in Appalachian geology that profoundly influenced subsequent models for the orogen's plate tectonic evolution. This advance was first clearly articulated by Nick Rast and his students in 1976, who, by correlating rocks of the Avalon Platform with those of the British Midlands, established the Avalonian volcanic belt as a Japan-like microcontinent. Contrary to contemporary views of the Avalon Platform, which favored an extensional, Basin and Range-like setting for its volcanism, Rast argued on the basis of this correlation that the association of Avalonian volcanism with compressional orogeny, widespread calc-alkaline plutonism and, in Angelsey, with blueschists and ophiolitic rocks, indicated a convergent plate margin setting. Rast further proposed that the Avalonian volcanic belt was ensialic, and was bordered to the northwest and southeast by Precambrian oceanic domains. Contemporary reconstructions of the Avalonian and Cadomian belts as fragments of a Cordilleran-like accretionary orogen that developed along an active margin of Neoproterozoic Gondwana owe their origin to these early ideas and, while far removed from the tectonic model that Rast envisaged, are a direct heritage of his recognition of the Avalonian volcanic belt as a microcontinental arc terrane.     

Geotectonic settings of miocene-quaternary volcanism in and around the eastern Tyrrhenian sea border (Italy) as deduced from major element geochemistry

The volcanic rocks along the south-eastern and eastern Tyrrhenian border of Italy have been classified as converging plate margin magma types by using discriminant functions based on major element patterns. These rocks belong to calc-alkaline and shoshonitic associations (shoshonites, and predominant leucitic rocks) ranging in age from Upper Miocene to, mostly, Quaternary. According to the same method of classification, the remaining Italian volcanic rocks — alkali-sodic and subordinate tholeiitic basalts — around the Tyrrhenian border are found to be rocks of the tensional type of Mesozoic to prevailingly Quaternary age. The volcanic materials of the 650 km long SE and E Tyrrhenian border can be related to the convergence of the African-Adriatic and Tyrrhenian plates.     

华北东部晚中生代伸展构造作用

本文在对华北东部晚中生代变质核杂岩、原型裂陷盆地群分布特征研究的基础上,结合区域地壳和上地幔的地球物理场特征,分析了变质核杂岩构造、裂陷盆地群的主要控制因素和岩石圈巨大减薄作用的形成机理,阐明了华北东部晚中生代的构造演化受太平洋板块俯冲效应、扬子板块碰撞挤压和软流圈大规模上涌联合作用的控制,而地表、中－上地壳分界和Moho界面是深部地质过程和浅部地质构造之间耦合的关键界面.     

Paleomagnetic study of Sicily: consequences for the deformation of Italian and African margins over the last 100 million years

Paleomagnetic analysis of Cenozoic sediments from the Iblean platform (12 sites, 100 samples) has provided four new poles. These data are combined with those available from volcanic series to yield a new apparent polar wander path for “stable” Sicily since the Upper Cretaceous. This curve, when compared to a revised curve for Africa (using a selection of available data points), demonstrates a 15° rotation of Sicily with respect to Africa during the Plio-Pleistocene. This rotation accounts for the extensional tectonic regime that prevails in the Pelagian Sea and which is evidenced by “en relais” rifts (Malta, Pantelleria, Linosa), associated with alkaline volcanism of Pliocene and Quaternary age. Paleomagnetic directions from various areas of the Italian Peninsula also indicate anticlockwise rotations with diverse amplitudes. The chronology of these rotations is consistent with a deformation of the western Italian margin during progressive suturation from north to south of the Corsican-Sardinian block since the end of the Oligocene.     

Geochemical characteristics of Bikou volcanic group and Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic composition: Evidence for breakup event in the north margin of Yangtze plate,Jining era

The geodynamic setting of the Bikou volcanic group is a critical question to trace the Precambrain tectonic framework and evolution for the Yangtze plate. This study has suggested that the Bikou volcanic group is composed of several residual oceanic crust units: MORB (mid-ocean ridge basalt), Alk-OIB (alkaline ocean island basalt) and Th-OIB (tholeiitic ocean island basalt) as well as subduction-related volcanic rocks. According to field observation, those distinct rocks occurred collectively in form of tectonic contact, implying that the Bikou volcanic group was an ophiolitic mélange. Coupled with geochronological data, a perished oceanic basin at the northern margin of the Yangtze block during Neoproterozoic was tested by this ophiolitic mélange. Meanwhile, the isogeochemical data suggest that the ocean occurred in the Southern Hemisphere identical to Indian, South Atlantic and South Pacific oceans in terms of their Dupal anomalies, and the original source of the rocks could be probably mixing by EMI and EMII component caused by dehydration melting of subducting oceanic crust during subduction process. On the basis of geochemical characteristics of the studied rocks, the Bikou volcanic group could imply that a partial breakup event occurred in the northern margin of Yangtze plate during the Neoproterozoic era.

     

Impact of tectonic erosion by subduction processes on intensity of arc volcanism

Abstract According to new estimates, more than 2 km³ of terrestrial material is transported every year with the subducting lithospheric plates to depths greater than 20-30 km. A comparable amount of subducted material is partly restored to the nearby margins through underplating, diapirism or forearc volcanism; partly rejuvenated through arc and back-arc magmatism; and the rest is recycled into the deep mantle. This study emphasizes the connection between the consumption of some arcs and the intensity of arc volcanism. In many cases (Japan, Peru, Izu-Bonin, Guatemala), interruption in tectonic erosion of the margin is followed by a hiatus of arc volcanism. The delay between the presumed cause (i.e. absence of subducted arc-type crust) and the response (i.e. lack of explosive volcanism) corresponds to the time required for the subducting slab to reach the melting depth (i.e. 2-4 million years). Alternately, intense tectonic erosion of the margin is followed by paroxysms of arc volcanism. Crustal contamination of volcanic rocks may be caused directly by magma sources which may contain arc material derived from the subcrustal erosion of the margin.     

Age progressive volcanism in the Comores Archipelago, western Indian Ocean and implications for Somali plate tectonics

The Comores Islands together with the Tertiary volcanic province of northern Madagascar form a sublinear trend of alkali olivine basalt shield volcanoes across the northern entrance of the Mozambique Channel. Potassium-argon dating of shield-building lavas confirms an eastward increase in age of volcanism along the chain, consistent with a hotspot origin for the lineament. The velocity of the Somali plate over the mantle magma source is 50 mm/yr.

We use the distribution of ages along the Comores-Madagascar chain in conjunction with existing age data for the Reunion-Mascarene Plateau hotspot track to model the absolute motion of the Somali plate for the last 10 m.y. We calculate the relative motion across the East African Rift by subtracting the Somali plate absolute motion from African plate absolute motion during this period. The model predicts 320 km of total separation across the East African Rift during the past 10 m.y. which is greater than has been estimated from surface geological evidence

The geometry of older portions of the Comores and Reunion trends indicates that there was no significant relative motion between the African and Somali plates prior to about 10 m.y. ago.     

Geochronology and petrology of recent volcanics in the eastern Aegean Sea (West Anatolia and Lesvos Island)

During the lower and middle Miocene the western Anatolia and the eastern Aegean Sea were dominated by a calcalkaline volcanism associated with minor acid and basic volcanics. The basic subcrustal volcanics consist mainly of alkali basalts and hawaiites (9.7–11.9 m.y.), nepheline hawaiites and nepheline trachyandesites (Kula area from 1.1 m.y. to the recent times). The rhyolitic volcanics (12.5 m.y.) derived by a partial melting process in the upper crust (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr=0.7121). The calcalkaline suite (16.2–21.5 m.y., mean value⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr=0.708) shows a trend from latite-andesites to dacites and rhyodacites; a latite andesite system related to a sinking slab of lithosphere and constituted by a mixing of oceanic crust (tholeiite), oceanic sediments and/or tectonic fragments of sialic crust is envisaged.     

Abundances,distribution and sizes of volcanoes in the Pacific Ocean and implications for the origin of non-hotspot volcanoes

In this paper I present data on the abundances, sizes and crustal age for all volcanoes (volcanic islands and seamounts) which appear on published bathymetric charts of the Pacific Ocean. These new data shed light on the origin of non-hotspot volcanoes and are important, in combination with data on the chemical compositions of seamounts and volcanic islands, for estimates of the bulk composition of ocean crust. These data also provide firm constraints on off-ridge oceanic volcanism models. Results of this study show that the size-frequency distribution of Pacific volcanoes is Poisson-like and that the smallest volcanoes are much more abundant than large ones. This study shows clearly that the most abundant volcanoes on the Earth are the submerged oceanic volcanoes which comprise 5–25% of the oceanic volcanic layer. On Pacific crust of Eocene age and younger, the abundance of volcanoes (number of volcanoes per unit area) increases monotonically with increasing age. Assuming steady state, the production rate of new off-ridge volcanoes (number of volcanoes per unit area per unit time) is inversely proportional to the square root of the lithosphere age [1]. On crust older than Eocene, the number of volcanoes per unit area of crust decreases monotonically with increasing age, however the total volume of lava represented by these edifices increases with increasing age. Size frequency distributions of volcanoes on swaths of successively older crust indicate that these abundance patterns are partly due to the effect of sediment burial of small edifices on old Pacific crust as well as the effect of increased lithosphere thickness on seamount size. These general patterns are not appreciably changed by omitting from consideration known hotspot volcanoes [2] and volcanoes built at fossil constructional plate margins [3].     

青藏高原冈底斯带及邻区重磁三维反演及岩浆岩特征研究

岩浆岩在青藏高原的大陆动力学研究中有着重要的作用,它既是构造演化的记录,又是重要构造-岩浆-成矿带的指示.本文主要基于冈底斯带及邻区的地面重力和航磁数据,首先进行地质-地球物理先验信息约束下的重磁2.5维交互式反演,再将2.5维反演结果作为参考模型加入到三维反演计算中,得到地下三维密度和磁化率结构.结合岩浆岩密度、磁化率统计资料和岩浆岩地球化学成果,推断研究区基性岩、I型花岗岩和S型花岗岩的三维分布图,得到如下结论:S型花岗岩主要分布在冈底斯东带和冈底斯弧背断隆带以北;北冈底斯的西部无明显的岩浆活动,而在其南侧和北侧,发现大量的隐伏基性岩和零散分布的I型花岗岩;中生代I型花岗岩在南冈底斯和冈底斯弧背断隆带广泛分布,且到新生代才出现大量的S型花岗岩.上述结果为中生代班公湖—怒江洋壳和新特提斯洋壳的双向剪刀式俯冲模式的观点提供了重要佐证,并认为班公湖—怒江洋壳在北冈底斯西部约84°E—88°E的范围内先后存在向北和向南俯冲的可能,北向羌塘地体下俯冲,南向冈底斯地体下俯冲.     

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.     

Summary of Arctic Geophysics

The Cenozoic history of the Eurasian Basin is well understood because it involves the Eurasian (EU) and North American (NA) plates and is therefore constrained by data from more southerly regions and contains a readilly decipherable magnetic pattern. Reconstruction of the older portion of the Arctic Ocean is more difficult; however, information collected on ice station CESAR in 1983, interpreted in conjunction with regional geologic and geophysical data, provides insight into its oceanic affinities and age. A dredged outcrop of the Alpha ridge, consisted of weathered fragmental alkaline volcanic rocks. Refraction data reveal a thick crust nearly 40 km and a high velocity lower crust on this ridge. The basal layer velocity is typical of all plateaus known to be oceanic crust. It is hypothesized that Alpha Ridge therefore represents a late Cretaceous oceanic plateau. A more recent analogue is the Iceland-Faeroe Ridge. The magnetic information are shown to be consistent with this interpretation of oceanic crust. The Amerasia Basin is closed by rotating the Arctic-Alaska plate against NA during the Cretaceous. This reconstruction, its timing and its position are consistent with the geology of the Canadian Arctic Islands and Alaska.     

Evolution of the volcanism in the area of interaction between the arabian, anatolian and iranian plates (Lake van, Eastern Turkey)

Geological investigations of the Lake Van area (Eastern Turkey) have shown the coexistence of a calc-alkaline volcanism, active at least since Lower Miocene, with an alkaline one, beginning around 6 m.y. ago. The calc-alkaline volcanic activity is related to subduction of the Arabian plate under the Anatolian—Iranian continental mass. The alkaline volcanism, on the other hand, is attributed to the fragmentation of such a mass and to the divergent motion of the Anatolian and Iranian plates; a process which began in Upper Miocene as a consequence of the continental collision with Arabia.     

Preliminary study on isostatic anomaly and recent tectonic stress field-Taking East China Sea and its eastern marginal seas as an example

Introduction The research of present-day tectonic stress and the mechanism of strain plays an important role in tectonic physics, because the stress and strain affect the tectonic action on the plate bounda-ries and inside the plates. This action should be reflected in geometric field of deformation and in some geophysical fields such as gravitational, geothermal and seismic field as well, for instance, some researchers have investigated the tectonic movement and tectonic stress field in the E…     

The concealed Caledonide basement of Eastern England and the southern North Sea — A review

Summary Field mapping, analysis of borehole core and studies of geophysical potential field and seismic data can be used to demonstrate the existence of a number of distinct crustal blocks within Eastern Avalonia beneath eastern England and the southern North Sea. At the core of these blocks is the Midlands Microcraton which is flanked by Ordovician volcanic arc complexes exposed in Wales and the Lake District. A possible volcanic arc complex of comparable age in eastern England is concealed by late Palaeozoic and Mesozoic cover. These volcanic arc complexes resulted from subduction of oceanic lithosphere beneath Avalonia prior to collision with Baltica and Laurentia in late Ordovician and Silurian time, respectively. The nature of the crust north and east of the concealed Caledonides of Eastern England and south of the lapetus Suture/Tornquist Sea Suture, which forms the basement to the southern North Sea, is unclear. Late Ordovician metamorphic ages from cores penetrating deformed metasedimentary rocks on the Mid-North Sea High suggest these rocks were involved in Avalonia-Baltica collision before final closure of the lapetus Ocean between Laurentia and Avalonia.