Extension-related origin of magmas from a garnet-bearing source in the Los Tuxtlas volcanic field, Mexico

The Los Tuxtlas volcanic field (LTVF) of late Miocene to Recent age is a key area to understand the consequences of the current subduction of the Cocos plate beneath the North American plate, as well as the competing effects of the ongoing extension along the Gulf of Mexico coast. Geochemical and radiogenic (Sr, Nd, and Pb) isotope data are used to constrain the origin of these 7 Ma to Recent magmas in this area. The basanitic and alkaline basaltic rocks show highly steep light rare-earth element-enriched patterns implying residual garnet in their mantle source, whereas the evolved alkaline and sub-alkaline rocks have less steep rare-earth element patterns consistent with a contribution from the continental crust. Geochemical and isotope data from the LTVF are compared with those from continental rifts, extension-related areas, continental break-up regions, and island and continental arcs, including the Central American volcanic arc related to the subduction of the same oceanic plate (Cocos plate), as well as with those from the two nearby Mexican provinces [the Eastern Alkaline Province (EAP) and the eastern part of the Mexican Volcanic Belt (E-MVB)]. These data for the LTVF primitive rocks are similar to rifts, extension-related areas and continental break-up regions, including the two Mexican provinces, but different from island and continental arcs, including the northern part of the Central American Volcanic Arc (CAVA). The LTVF rocks show an unusual Th and U enrichment with respect to Ba and Rb, which also renders a distinct negative Nb anomaly (with respect to Th and K) in them. These rocks also show a negative Nb anomaly (with respect to Ba and La) that is similar to numerous rift, extension-related areas, and continental break-up regions, but distinct from all arcs around the world, indicating that the magma genesis processes in the LTVF are similar to those in rifts. The “Sr-shift”, shown to be a typical feature of most, if not all, island and continental arcs including the CAVA, is not present in the LTVF rocks. Numerous discrimination diagrams, including the new discriminant function diagrams, suggest a rift setting for the LTVF. An essentially extension-related origin of the LTVF is, therefore, inferred in this study. Furthermore, in the light of major and trace element data for LTVF primitive rocks and their modelling an incompatible element-enriched garnet-bearing source seems plausible. The LTVF source is likely to reside in the lithosphere rather than the asthenosphere although the asthenospheric contribution cannot be completely ruled out. The evolved alkaline and sub-alkaline rocks might have a lower crustal component. Finally, it appears that the LTVF shows more affinity to the EAP rather than to the Mexican Volcanic Belt (MVB), implying that the LTVF should probably be considered as a part of the EAP.     

Crustal structure across southern Mexico inferred from gravity data

We present a gravity model of the crustal structure in southern Mexico based on interpretation of a detailed marine gravity profile perpendicularly across the Middle America Trench offshore from Acapulco, and a regional gravity transect extending into continental Mexico across the Sierra Madre del Sur, the central sector of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, the Sierra Madre Oriental, the Coastal Plain, and into the Gulf of Mexico. The elastic thickness of the Cocos lithospheric plate was found to be 30 km. In agreement with a previous seismic refraction study, no major differences in crustal structure were observed on both sides of the O’Gorman Fracture Zone. The gravity high seaward of the trench is interpreted as due to the incipient flexure and crustal thinning. The gravity low at the axis of the trench is explained by the increase in water depth and the existence of low-density accreted or continental-derived sediments (2.25 and 2.40 g/cm³). A gravity high of 50 mGal extending about 100 km landward is interpreted as caused by local shoaling of the Moho. The crust attains a thickness of 42 km under the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt but thins beneath the Coastal Plain and the continental slope of the Gulf of Mexico. Gravity highs around the Sierra de Tamaulipas are interpreted in terms of relief of the lower–upper crustal interface, implying a shallow basement.     

Gold and silver metallogeny of the South China Fold Belt: a consequence of multiple mineralizing events?

The South China Fold Belt is part of the South China Block that is interpreted to be the result of multiple tectonic and magmatic events that formed a collage of accreted Proterozoic and Phanerozoic terranes. The Jurassic to early Cretaceous Yanshanian period (180–90 Ma), a time of major tectono-thermal events that affected much of eastern and southeastern China, is of great metallogenic importance in the fold belt. This period is linked to subduction of the Pacific plate beneath the Eurasian continent, and is manifested by voluminous volcano-plutonic activity of predominantly calc-alkaline affinity.The distribution of gold and silver deposits in the South China Fold Belt indicates the presence of two distinct metallogenic provinces. A region of basement uplifts, which are controlled by shear zones and form Neoproterozoic inliers of metamorphosed iron-rich rock types, defines the first province. In this province, orogenic lodes and volcanic-related epithermal deposits represent the more significant precious-metal mineralization. The second province is essentially confined to a belt of Yanshanian felsic–intermediate volcanic and subvolcanic rocks that extends along most of the southeastern China coast in an area known as the Coastal Volcanic Belt. Deposits in the Coastal Volcanic Belt are silver- and/or copper-rich, volcanic-hosted and epithermal in character.The precious-metal metallogeny of the South China Fold Belt is interpreted to have developed in at least three stages: one as a result of collision events, during the Caledonian Orogeny (ca. 400 Ma), the second during the Indosinian Orogeny (ca. 200 Ma) and the third during or soon after the formation of the Yanshanian magmatic belt (Yanshanian Orogeny; 180–90 Ma). The latter was responsible for a hydrothermal event that affected large sections of the belt and its Proterozoic substrate. This may have resulted in the redistribution and enrichment of precious metals from preexisting orogenic gold lodes in Neoproterozoic basement rocks, which are now exposed as windows in zones of tectonic uplift. The Yanshanian hydrothermal activity was particularly widespread in the Coastal Volcanic Belt and resulted in the formation of both low- and high-sulfidation epithermal gold and silver, and locally copper and other base-metal mineralization. It is suggested that the Coastal Volcanic Belt has greater potential for world-class epithermal and porphyry deposits than previously realised.     

Tertiary arc-magmatism of the Sierra Madre del Sur,Mexico, and its transition to the volcanic activity of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt

The Tertiary magmatic rocks of the Sierra Madre del Sur (SMS) are broadly distributed south of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB) and extend to the southern continental margin of Mexico. They represent magmatic activity that originated at a time characterized by significant changes in the plate interactions in this region as a result of the formation of the Caribbean plate and the southeastward displacement of the Chortis block along the continental margin of southwestern Mexico. The change from SMS magmatism to an E–W trending TMVB volcanism in Miocene time reflects the tectonic evolution of southwestern Mexico during these episodes of plate tectonic rearrangement.The distribution and petrographic characteristics of the magmatic rocks of the SMS define two belts of NW orientation. The first is represented by the nearly continuous coastal plutonic belt (CPB), which consists of batholiths and stocks of predominantly felsic composition. The second belt is inland of the first and consists of discontinuously distributed volcanic fields with piles of andesitic to rhyolitic flows, as well as epiclastic and pyroclastic materials. These two belts were emplaced along a continental crust segment constituted by a mosaic of basements with recognizable petrologic and isotopic differences. These basements originated during different tectono-thermal events developed from the Proterozoic to the Mesozoic.Major and trace element data of the SMS magmatic rocks define a clear sub-alkaline tendency. Variations in the general geochemical behavior and in the Sr and Nd isotopic ratios indicate different degrees of magmatic differentiation and/or crustal contamination. These variations, specially in the inland Oligocene volcanic regions of Guerrero and Oaxaca states, seem to have been controlled by the particular tectonic setting at the time of magmatism. In northwestern Oaxaca greater extension related to transtensional tectonics produced less differentiated volcanic rocks with an apparently lower degree of crustal contamination than those of northeastern Guerrero.The geochronologic data produced by us up to now, in addition to those previously reported, indicate that the Tertiary magmatic rocks of the SMS range in age from Paleocene to Miocene. The general geochronologic patterns indicate a southeastward decrease in the age of igneous activity, rather than a gradual northeastward migration of the locus of magmatism toward the present-day TMVB. SMS magmatic rocks exposed to the west of the 100°W meridian are dominantly Late Cretaceous to Eocene, while those to the east range from Oligocene to Miocene, also following a southeastward age-decreasing trend. Paleocene and Eocene magmatic rocks of the western region of the SMS seem to keep a general NNW trend similar to that of the Tertiary magmatic rocks of the Sierra Madre Occidental (SMO). In the eastern region of the SMS the Oligocene magmatic rocks show a trend that roughly defines an ESE orientation. The change in the trend of arc magmatism may be the effect of the landward migration of the trench, for a given longitude, as a result of the displacement of the Chortis block. The transtensional tectonic regime developed in Oligocene time in NW Oaxaca probably accentuated this trend by facilitating magma generation and ascent in these northerly regions.The geochronologic data of the SMS, in conjunction with those of the TMVB, suggest that there is a spatial and temporal magmatic gap in south central Mexico between 97 and 100°W longitude during late Oligocene and middle Miocene time (24–16 Ma). This magmatic gap is interpreted in terms of a combination of the relatively rapid change in the subducted slab geometry after the passage of the Chortis block from a moderate to a shallow angle and the time needed for the mantle wedge to mature sufficiently to produce magmas.     

Island-arc affinity of the Central Iranian Volcanic Belt

Three types of tectonic settings are proposed for the Central Iranian Volcanic Belt (CIVB), namely, rift, continental margin, and post-collision settings. However, geochemical, tectonic, stratigraphic, and metallogenic evidence favor an ensialic island-arc setting. The discrimination diagrams that have been used in this study are useful for making a distinction between ensialic island-arcs and continental margin-arcs from which the ensialic island-arcs were derived.     

Island-arc affinity of the Central Iranian Volcanic Belt

Three types of tectonic settings are proposed for the Central Iranian Volcanic Belt (CIVB), namely, rift, continental margin, and post-collision settings. However, geochemical, tectonic, stratigraphic, and metallogenic evidence favor an ensialic island-arc setting. The discrimination diagrams that have been used in this study are useful for making a distinction between ensialic island-arcs and continental margin-arcs from which the ensialic island-arcs were derived.     

Beyond Subduction and Plumes: A Unified Tectonic-Petrogenetic Model for the Mexican Volcanic Belt

The Mexican Volcanic Belt (MVB) is a major linear belt of Miocene to present-day volcanism in southern Mexico. Its origin has been controversial, although the majority opinion views it as a volcanic arc related to the subduction of the Cocos plate under the North American plate. Both calc-alkaline and alkaline volcanism characterize the belt; the latter has been previously cited as indicative of the role of a mantle plume. Here we present objections to these explanations, and conclude on the basis of geological, geochemical, and geophysical data that the MVB is unrelated to subduction or to a mantle plume, and is instead a rift-like structure experiencing active extension. Calc-alkaline or alkaline geochemistry of magmas is not useful for inferring tectonic setting, but reflects source parameters and petrogenetic processes. For the MVB, calc-alkaline geochemistry suggests crustal contamination, and the OIB-like geochemistry suggests an enriched mantle source. Our proposal of a heterogeneous mantle beneath the MVB comprising “normal” mantle and metasomatic, enriched veins, can explain the close association in space and time of calc-alkaline and alkaline volcanism throughout the belt.     

Pleistocene to recent alkalic volcanism in the region of Sanganguey volcano,Nayarit, Mexico

Forty five cinder cones and associated lava flows have erupted within the last 300,000 years along five parallel lines through the calc-alkaline volcano, Sanganguey, in the northwestern segment of the Mexican Volcanic Belt. Lavas erupted from these cinder cones include ne- and hynormative alkali basalts, hawaiites, mugearites, and benmoreites. It is unusual that this suite has erupted in a calc-aikaline volcanic belt where volcanoes in the vicinity have been erupting calc-alkaline andesites, dacites and rhyodacites.Incompatible trace elements such Ba, Rb, Sr, and LREEs show little change with decreasing Mg, Ni, and Cr in the series alkali basalt to hawaiite, suggesting that simple crystal fractionation of observed phenocrysts has not been the dominant process in the derivation of the hawaiites from the alkali basalts. Petrographic evidence of magma mixing along with observed variation of trace element abundances suggests that the alkali basalts might represent mixtures of primitive magma with more evolved compositions.Crystal fractionation is capable of explaining major and most trace element trends in the series hawaiite — mugearite — benmoreite. However, such a process could only occur at pressure because of the requirement that clinopyroxene be a major crystallizing phase.The anomolous association of alkaline magmatism contemporaneously with calc-alkaline magmatism is probably related to the complex tectonic history associated with the rearrangement of plate boundaries in the vicinity of western Mexico.     

The geologic history of the Nicoya Ophiolite Complex, Costa Rica, and its geotectonic significance

Costa Rica forms part of an intra-oceanic arc between the Pacific and Caribbean oceans; the Nicoya Ophiolite Complex is located along its Pacific border. In this study, evidence is given that the Nicoya Complex is composed of ridge-formed oceanic crust that suffered a strong compressional stress during Late Santonian times. As a result of this, isoclinal folding and large-scale nappe emplacement occurred at a shallow crustal depth. The principal component of this compressional stress was E-W-directed. It is also demonstrated that, from this time, the complex was situated between a subducting plate and a volcanic arc. From that Campanian until the Middle Eocene the zone was undulated, and generally at a great depth below sea level. During the Eocene—Oligocene epoch a new tectonic stress affected the area. It produced open folding with upthrusting in the ophiolite complex and overthrust folding of the overlying rock series. As a result of crustal thickening during this tectonic phase, the area was uplifted. From Miocene times, the zone was shaped into a dome and a synform. These undulations are attributed to compression of the subducting Coco Plate, west of the area.The Upper Santonian tectonic phase demonstrates how compressional stress produced the break-up of the Caribo-Pacific plate west of the study area, as a result of which, a Caribbean plate without an associated oceanic ridge and a Pacific plate originated. The compressional stress in question was presumably generated by the opposed spreading directions of the new Mid-Atlantic Ridge and an older ridge to the west of the study area.Furthermore, it is argued that the Cretaceous obduction of the ophiolite belt along the Pacific coast of the American continents, was produced by the directional change of these continents during the birth of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This created intra-plate compressional stress and converted originally passive continental margins into active zones, where thrusting of oceanic crust on to a continental margin (obduction) could occur. When the Mid-Atlantic Ridge started spreading, the obduction phase ended due to subduction of the oceanic plate below the leading edge of the continent.     

Discriminating four tectonic settings: Five new geochemical diagrams for basic and ultrabasic volcanic rocks based on log — ratio transformation of major-element data

We present five new discriminant function diagrams based on an extensive database representative of basic and ultrabasic rocks from four tectonic settings of island arc, continental rift, ocean-island, and mid-ocean ridge. These diagrams were obtained after log_e-transformation of concentration ratios of major-elements — a technique recommended for a correct statistical treatment of compositional data. Higher % success rates (overall values from ∼ 83 to 97%) were obtained for proposing these new diagrams as compared to those (∼82 to 94%) obtained from the discriminant analysis of the raw major-element concentration data (i.e., without the log_e-transformation and without taking ratios of the compositional data, but using exactly the same database to provide an unbiased comparison), suggesting that such a data transformation constitutes a statistically correct and recommended technique. The new diagrams also resulted in less mis-classification of basic and ultrabasic rocks from known tectonic settings than the diagrams obtained from the raw data. The use of these highly successful new discriminant function diagrams is illustrated using Miocene to Recent basic and ultrabasic rocks from three areas of Mexico with complex or controversial tectonic settings (Mexican Volcanic Belt, Los Tuxtlas volcanic field, and Eastern Alkaline Province), as well as older rocks from three areas (Deccan, Malani, and Bastar) of India. Additionally, the major-element data from two ‘known’ continental arc settings are used to show that they are similar to those from the island arc setting. Continental rift setting is inferred for all Mexican cases and for one cratonic area of India (Malani) and an IAB setting for the Bastar craton. The Deccan flood basalt province of India is used to warn against an indiscriminate use of those discrimination diagrams that do not explicitly include the likely setting of the area under evaluation. An Excel template is also provided for an easy application of these new diagrams for discriminating the four settings considered in this work.     

An extreme wave event in eastern Yucatán,Mexico: Evidence of a palaeotsunami event during the Mayan times

The Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, has typically been considered a tectonically stable region with little significant seismic activity. The region though, is one that is regularly affected by hurricanes. A detailed survey of ca 100 km of the eastern Yucatán and Cozumel coast identified the presence of ridges containing individual boulders measuring >1 m in length. The boulder ridges reach 5 m in height and their origin is associated with extreme wave event activity. Previously modelled tsunami waves from known seismically active zones in the region (Muertos Thrust Belt and South Caribbean Deformed Belt) are not of sufficient scale in the area of the Yucatán Peninsula to have produced the boulder ridges recorded in this study. The occurrence of hurricanes in this region is more common, but two of the most destructive (Hurricane Gilbert 1988 and Hurricane Wilma 2005) produced coastal waves too small to have created the ridges recorded here. In this paper, a new tsunami model with a source area located on the Motagua/Swan Island Fault System has been generated that indicates a tsunami event may have caused the extreme wave events that resulted in the deposition of the boulder ridges.     

Insights from trace element geochemistry as to the roles of subduction zone geometry and subduction input on the chemistry of arc magmas

Subduction zones of continental, transitional, and oceanic settings, relative to the nature of the overriding plate, are compared in terms of trace element compositions of mafic to intermediate arc rocks, in order to evaluate the relationship between subduction parameters and the presence of subduction fluids. The continental Chilean Southern Volcanic Zone (SVZ) and the transitional to oceanic Central American Volcanic Arc (CAVA) show increasing degrees of melting with increasing involvement of slab fluids, as is typical for hydrous flux melting beneath arc volcanoes. At the SVZ, the central segment with the thinnest continental crust/lithosphere erupted the highest-degree melts from the most depleted sources, similar to the oceanic-like Nicaraguan segment of the CAVA. The northern part of the SVZ, located on the thickest continental crust/lithosphere, exhibits features more similar to Costa Rica situated on the Caribbean Large Igneous Province, with lower degrees of melting from more enriched source materials. The composition of the slab fluids is characteristic for each arc system, with a particularly pronounced enrichment in Pb at the SVZ and in Ba at the CAVA. A direct compositional relationship between the arc rocks and the corresponding marine sediments that are subducted at the trenches clearly shows that the compositional signature of the lavas erupted in the different arcs carries an inherited signal from the subducted sediments.     

大兴安岭北部中生代火山岩特征及岩浆演化

据火山岩岩石组合、地球化学特征、喷发旋回特征及岩浆来源,将大兴安岭北部中生代火山岩划分为三个岩浆演化旋回。晚侏罗世塔木兰沟—吉祥峰旋回火山岩为碱性系列亚碱性系列,岩浆来源于上地幔并有陆壳物质的混染;早白垩世的上库力旋回火山岩为高钾钙碱性系列,岩浆来源于地壳的部分熔融;早白垩世伊列克得旋回火山岩为碱性到亚碱性过渡系列,岩浆来自于地幔并受地壳的混染。综合研究表明,大兴安岭北部中生代火山岩形成于板内环境,早白垩世火山岩可能形成于大陆裂谷环境。     

Middle Miocene near trench volcanism in northern Colombia: A record of slab tearing due to the simultaneous subduction of the Caribbean Plate under South and Central America?

Field, geochemical, geochronological, biostratigraphical and sedimentary provenance results of basaltic and associated sediments northern Colombia reveal the existence of Middle Miocene (13–14 Ma) mafic volcanism within a continental margin setting usually considered as amagmatic. This basaltic volcanism is characterized by relatively high Al₂O₃ and Na₂O values (>15%), a High-K calc-alkaline affinity, large ion lithophile enrichment and associated Nb, Ta and Ti negative anomalies which resemble High Al basalts formed by low degree of asthenospheric melting at shallow depths mixed with some additional slab input. The presence of pre-Cretaceous detrital zircons, tourmaline and rutile as well as biostratigraphic results suggest that the host sedimentary rocks were deposited in a platform setting within the South American margin. New results of P-wave residuals from northern Colombia reinforce the view of a Caribbean slab subducting under the South American margin.The absence of a mantle wedge, the upper plate setting, and proximity of this magmatism to the trench, together with geodynamic constraints suggest that the subducted Caribbean oceanic plate was fractured and a slab tear was formed within the oceanic plate. Oceanic plate fracturing is related to the splitting of the subducting Caribbean Plate due to simultaneous subduction under the Panama-Choco block and northwestern South America, and the fast overthrusting of the later onto the Caribbean oceanic plate.     

Metallogeny and tectonic development of the Tasman Fold Belt System in Queensland

The northern part of the Tasman Fold Belt System in Queensland comprises three segments, the Thomson, Hodgkinson- Broken River, and New England Fold Belts. The evolution of each fold belt can be traced through pre-cratonic (orogenic), transitional, and cratonic stages. The different timing of these stages within each fold belt indicates differing tectonic histories, although connecting links can be recognised between them from Late Devonian time onward. In general, orogenesis became younger from west to east towards the present continental margin. The most recent folding, confined to the New England Fold Belt, was of Early to mid-Cretaceous age. It is considered that this eastward migration of orogenic activity may reflect progressive continental accretion, although the total amount of accretion since the inception of the Tasman Fold Belt System in Cambrian time is uncertain.The Thomson Fold Belt is largely concealed beneath late Palaeozoic and Mesozoic intracratonic basin sediments. In addition, the age of the more highly deformed and metamorphosed rocks exposed in the northeast is unknown, being either Precambrian or early Palaeozoic. Therefore, the tectonic evolution of this fold belt must remain very speculative. In its early stages (Precambrian or early Palaeozoic), the Thomson Fold Belt was probably a rifted continental margin adjacent to the Early to Middle Proterozoic craton to the west and north. The presence of calc-alkaline volcanics of Late Cambrian Early Ordovician and Early-Middle Devonian age suggests that the fold belt evolved to a convergent Pacific-type continental margin. The tectonic setting of the pre-cratonic (orogenic) stage of the Hodgkinson—Broken River Fold Belt is also uncertain. Most of this fold belt consists of strongly deformed, flysch-type sediments of Silurian-Devonian age. Forearc, back-arc and rifted margin settings have all been proposed for these deposits. The transitional stage of the Hodgkinson—Broken River Fold Belt was characterised by eruption of extensive silicic continental volcanics, mainly ignimbrites, and intrusion of comagmatic granitoids in Late Carboniferous Early Permian time. An Andean-type continental margin model, with calc-alkaline volcanics erupted above a west-dipping subduction zone, has been suggested for this period. The tectonic history of the New England Fold Belt is believed to be relatively well understood. It was the site of extensive and repeated eruption of calc-alkaline volcanics from Late Silurian to Early Cretaceous time. The oldest rocks may have formed in a volcanic island arc. From the Late Devonian, the fold belt was a convergent continental margin above a west-dipping subduction zone. For Late Devonian- Early Carboniferous time, parallel belts representing continental margin volcanic arc, forearc basin, and subduction complex can be recognised.A great variety of mineral deposits, ranging in age from Late Cambrian-Early Ordovician and possibly even Precambrian to Early Cretaceous, is present in the exposed rocks of the Tasman Fold Belt System in Queensland. Volcanogenic massive sulphides and slate belt-type gold-bearing quartz veins are the most important deposits formed in the pre-cratonic (orogenic) stage of all three fold belts. The voicanogenic massive sulphides include classic Kuroko-type orebodies associated with silicic volcanics, such as those at Thalanga (Late Cambrian-Early Ordovician. Thomson Fold Belt) and at Mount Chalmers (Early Permian New England Fold Belt), and Kieslager or Besshi-type deposits related to submarine mafic volcanics, such as Peak Downs (Precambrian or early Palaeozoic, Thomson Fold Belt) and Dianne. OK and Mount Molloy (Silurian—Devonian, Hodgkinson Broken River Fold Belt). The major gold—copper orebody at Mount Morgan (Middle Devonian, New England Fold Belt), is considered to be of volcanic or subvolcanic origin, but is not a typical volcanogenic massive sulphide.The most numerous ore deposits are associated with calc-alkaline volcanics and granitoid intrusives of the transitional tectonic stage of the three fold belts, particularly the Late Carboniferous Early Perman of the Hodgkinson—Broken River Fold Belt and the Late Permian—Middle Triassic of the southeast Queensland part of the New England Fold Belt. In general, these deposits are small but rich. They include tin, tungsten, molybdenum and bismuth in granites and adjacent metasediments, base metals in contact meta somatic skarns, gold in volcanic breccia pipes, gold-bearing quartz veins within granitoid intrusives and in volcanic contact rocks, and low-grade disseminated porphyry-type copper and molybdenum deposits. The porphyry-type deposits occur in distinct belts related to intrusives of different ages: Devonian (Thomson Fold Belt), Late Carboniferous—Early Permian (Hodgkinson—Broken River Fold Belt). Late Permian Middle Triassic (southeast Queensland part of the New England Fold Belt), and Early Cretaceous (northern New England Fold Belt). All are too low grade to be of economic importance at present.Tertiary deep weathering events were responsible for the formation of lateritic nickel deposits on ultramafics and surficial manganese concentrations from disseminated mineralisation in cherts and jaspers.     

The lithospheric geodynamics of plate boundary transpression in New Zealand: Initiating and emplacing subduction along the Hikurangi margin, and the tectonic evolution of the Alpine Fault system

In contrast to the normal ‘Wilson cycle’ sequence of subduction leading to continental collision and associated mountain building, the evolution of the New Zealand plate boundary in the Neogene reflects the converse—initially a period of continental convergence that is followed by the emplacement of subduction. Plate reconstructions allow us to place limits on the location and timing of the continental convergence and subduction zones and the migration of the transition between the two plate boundary regimes. Relative plate motions and reconstructions since the Early to Mid-Miocene require significant continental convergence in advance of the emplacement of the southward migrating Hikurangi subduction—a sequence of tectonism seen in the present plate boundary geography of Hikurangi subduction beneath North Island and convergence in the Southern Alps along the Alpine Fault. In contrast to a transition from subduction to continental convergence where the leading edge of the upper plate is relatively thin and deformable, the transition from a continental convergent regime, with its associated crustal and lithospheric thickening, to subduction of oceanic lithosphere requires substantial thinning (removal) of upper plate continental lithosphere to make room for the slab. The simple structure of the Wadati–Benioff zone seen in the present-day geometry of the subducting Pacific plate beneath North Island indicates that this lithospheric adjustment occurs quickly. Associated with this rapid lithospheric thinning is the development of a series of ephemeral basins, younging to the south, that straddle the migrating slab edge. Based on this association between localized vertical tectonics and slab emplacement, the tectonic history of these basins records the effects of lithospheric delamination driven by the southward migrating leading edge of the subducting Pacific slab. Although the New Zealand plate boundary is often described as simply two subduction zones linked by the transpressive Alpine Fault, in actuality the present is merely a snapshot view of an ongoing and complex evolution from convergence to subduction.     

Ceboruco hazard map: part II—modeling volcanic phenomena and construction of the general hazard map

Natural Hazards - Ceboruco volcano in the western Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt is one of the eleven most active stratovolcanoes in Mexico. Due to its recent eruptive history including a large...     

Eastbound sublithosphere mantle flow through the Caribbean gap and its relevance to the continental undertow hypothesis

Recent evidence indicates that beneath the Caribbean a tongue of sublithosphere mantle is flowing from the Pacific to the Atlantic, dragging the overlying lithosphere eastward: (i) Shear-wave splitting results from beneath the Andean subduction zone and Venezuela suggest mantle flow eastward through the Caribbean. (ii) Volcanic chemistry in Central America indicates a slab source beneath Nicaragua, but a different source in Costa Rica, above the proposed Pacific outflow. (iii) An extinct volcanic arc accreted to the margins of the Caribbean swept eastward through the Caribbean gap between North & South America. The 1982 'continental undertow' model requires shallow-mantle flow through the Caribbean gap from the Pacific to the Atlantic, if continents have deep roots and if shallow-mantle flow beneath oceans is decoupled from convection at deeper levels. The new evidence from the Caribbean is thus compatible with the continental undertow model, and perhaps with other models involving decoupled shallow flow.     

河南南召盆地上三叠统碎屑岩地球化学特征及物源示踪

三叠纪是秦岭造山带全面碰撞造山的关键时期,随着扬子、秦岭和华北板块分别沿勉略、商丹缝合带的汇聚拼合, 秦岭造山带逐渐形成并从板块构造体制向陆内造山体制转化,同时强烈的造山作用控制着周缘盆地的形成与演化。文章通 过研究区的碎屑岩元素地球化学分析,对河南南召盆地上三叠统的物源区及构造背景特征进行探讨。结果表明,上三叠统 源岩成分主要为上地壳长英质火山岩;源岩经历了中等的化学风化强度,校正后CIA值指示其形成于温暖潮湿的气候和相 对较强的构造活动环境;太山庙组源区构造背景主要为大陆岛弧与活动大陆边缘,太子山组源区构造背景主要为大陆岛弧 与被动大陆边缘。根据南召盆地近源沉积特征和秦岭造山带构造演化过程推断,秦岭造山带和华北南缘是南召盆地晚三叠 世的重要物源区,前期太山庙组物源主要由北秦岭隆升基底提供,后期太子山组物源可能来自南秦岭、北秦岭和华北南缘 沉积再循环。南召盆地上三叠统物源区的转变是晚三叠世秦岭造山带逆冲推覆作用逐渐增强的体现,对研究恢复秦岭构造 带造山隆升过程和周缘盆地盆山系统演化具有重要的意义。     

中国东北地区中生代构造体制的转变:来自火山岩时空分布与岩石组合的制约

东北地区中生代经历了蒙古-鄂霍茨克构造体系向太平洋构造体系的转换,形成了不同期次火山活动。本文归纳总结了露头区与覆盖区中生代火山岩的年代学、空间分布、岩石组合以及地球化学特征,揭示了两个构造域的时空分布范围。该区火山岩锆石U-Pb年龄统计结果表明中生代存在五期火山活动:早-中侏罗世(190~160Ma)、晚侏罗世(160~145Ma)、早白垩世早期(145~120Ma)、早白垩世晚期(120~100Ma)、晚白垩世早期(100~90Ma)。早-中侏罗世火山岩分布较少,火山岩仅分布在大兴安岭西部满洲里地区和东部张广才岭以及南侧辽宁北票-朝阳地区,火山岩属于高钾钙碱性系列,为蒙古-鄂霍茨克海闭合和法拉隆板块双俯冲作用的产物。晚侏罗世东北地区火山活动明显增强,主要分布在大兴安岭地区,张广才岭以及小兴安岭也有少量分布。西部大兴安岭地区以粗面安山岩、粗面岩为主,属于同碰撞造山成因,为蒙古-鄂霍茨克海闭合造山环境产物。东部以中酸性、酸性岩为主,为法拉隆板块背离欧亚大陆,岩石圈伸展引起的壳源物质熔融产物。早白垩世早期火山活动最为强烈,火山岩主要分布在大兴安岭地区。岩性以高钾钙碱性系列的粗面玄武安山岩、粗面安山岩、安山岩、粗面岩为主,为蒙古-鄂霍茨克海闭合造山后伸展环境产物。早白垩世晚期火山岩主要分布在松辽盆地内部。火山岩以中酸性岩为主,属于中钾-高钾钙碱性系列,为伊泽奈崎板块俯冲引起的弧后拉张,软流圈上涌导致年轻地壳熔融的产物。晚白垩世早期火山岩仅分布在小兴安岭及吉林、黑龙江省东部地区。火山岩为一套玄武岩、玄武安山岩、安山岩和英安岩组合,属于中钾钙碱性系列,是伊泽奈崎-库拉板块高角度俯冲的大陆边缘岩浆活动产物。东北地区中生代不同期次火山岩记录了蒙古-鄂霍茨克构造域向太平洋构造域转换过程及其时空影响范围。