A brief comparison of lava flows from the Deccan Volcanic Province and the Columbia-Oregon Plateau Flood Basalts: Implications for models of flood basalt emplacement

The nature and style of emplacement of Continental Flood Basalt (CFB) lava flows has been a matter of great interest as well as considerable controversy in the recent past. However, even a cursory review of published literature reveals that the Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG) and Hawaiian volcanoes provide most of the data relevant to this topic. It is interesting to note, however, that the CRBG lava flows and their palaeotopographic control is atypical of other CFB provinces in the world. In this paper, we first present a short overview of important studies pertaining to the emplacement of flood basalt flows. We then briefly review the morphology of lava flows from the Deccan Volcanic Province (DVP) and the Columbia-Oregon Plateau flood basalts. The review underscores the existence of significant variations in lava flow morphology between different provinces, and even within the same province. It is quite likely that there were more than one way of emplacing the voluminous and extensive CFB lava flows. We argue that the establishment of general models of emplacement must be based on a comprehensive documentation of lava flow morphology from all CFB provinces.     

Multiple causes of Earth's earliest global glaciation

In the context of Earth System evolution, the causal factors driving the Palaeoproterozoic Huronian global glaciations occupy a central position. The rise of O₂ at 2320 Ma, which eliminated most of the methane, was not apparently a single cause triggering the glaciation. At c. 2450 Ma mantle‐plume‐driven continental uplifts led to the emplacement of voluminous continental flood‐basalts in low latitudes that were subsequently dissected by rifting. Major topographical features and continental drainage patterns were most likely similar to those in younger continental flood‐basalt provinces and would have enabled deep weathering and erosion of extensive basalt‐covered continental areas. Intense consumption of atmospheric CO₂ by silicate weathering of fresh basaltic surfaces would have been further amplified by a constant organic carbon burial rate. These factors, similar to those of younger glacial periods, in combination with the diminished CH₄ greenhouse led to an onset of global cooling at the million‐year timescale.     

From initiation to termination: a petrostratigraphic tour of the Ethiopian Low-Ti Flood Basalt Province

Continental flood basalts (CFBs), thought to preserve the magmatic record of an impinging mantle plume head, offer spatial and temporal insights into melt generation processes in large igneous provinces (LIPs). Despite the utility of CFBs in probing mantle plume composition, these basalts typically erupt fractionated compositions, suggestive of significant residence time in the continental lithosphere. The location and duration of residence within the lithosphere provide additional insights into the flux of plume-related magmas. The NW Ethiopian plateau offers a well-preserved stratigraphic sequence from flood basalt initiation to termination, and is thus an important target for study of CFBs. This study examines modal observations within a stratigraphic framework and places these observations within the context of the magmatic evolution of the Ethiopian CFB province. Data demonstrate multiple pulses of magma recharge punctuated by brief shut-down events, with initial flows fed by magmas that experienced deeper fractionation (lower crust). Broad changes in modal mineralogy and flow cyclicity are consistent with fluctuating changes in magmatic flux through a complex plumbing system, indicating pulsed magma flux and an overall shallowing of the magmatic plumbing system over time. The composition of plagioclase megacrysts suggests a constant replenishing of new primitive magma recharging the shallow plumbing system during the main phase of volcanism, reaching an apex prior to flood basalt termination. The petrostratigraphic data sets presented in this paper provide new insight into the evolution of a magma plumbing system in a CFB province.     

Geology and geochemistry of Pachmarhi dykes and sills,Satpura Gondwana Basin,central India: problems of dyke-sill-flow correlations in the Deccan Traps

Many tholeiitic dyke-sill intrusions of the Late Cretaceous Deccan Traps continental flood basalt province are exposed in the Satpura Gondwana Basin around Pachmarhi, central India. We present field, petrographic, major and trace element, and Sr–Nd–Pb isotope data on these intrusions and identify individual dykes and sills that chemically closely match several stratigraphically defined formations in the southwestern Deccan (Western Ghats). Some of these formations have also been identified more recently in the northern and northeastern Deccan. However, the Pachmarhi intrusions are significantly more evolved (lower Mg numbers and higher TiO₂ contents) than many Deccan basalts, with isotopic signatures generally different from those of the chemically similar lava formations, indicating that most are not feeders to previously characterized flows. They appear to be products of mixing between Deccan basalt magmas and partial melts of Precambrian Indian amphibolites, as proposed previously for several Deccan basalt lavas of the lower Western Ghats stratigraphy. Broad chemical and isotopic similarities of several Pachmarhi intrusions to the northern and northeastern Deccan lavas indicate petrogenetic relationships. Distances these lava flows would have had to cover, if they originated in the Pachmarhi area, range from 150 to 350 km. The Pachmarhi data enlarge the hitherto known chemical and isotopic range of the Deccan flood basalt magmas. This study highlights the problems and ambiguities in dyke-sill-flow correlations even with extensive geochemical fingerprinting.     

Petrology of mafic lavas within the Onega plateau, central Karelia: evidence for 2.0 Ga plume-related continental crustal growth in the Baltic Shield

The Onega plateau constitutes part of a vast continental flood basalt province in the SE Baltic Shield. It consists of Jatulian-Ludikovian submarine volcanic, volcaniclastic and sedimentary sequences attaining in places 4.5?km in thickness. The parental magmas of the lavas contained ～10% MgO and were derived from melts generated in the garnet stability field at depths 80–100?km. The Sm-Nd mineral and Pb-Pb whole-rock isochron ages of 1975?±?24 and 1980?±?57 Ma for the upper part of the plateau and a SHRIMP U-Pb zircon age of 1976?±?9 Ma for its lower part imply the formation of the entire sequence within a short time span. These ages coincide with those of picrites in the Pechenga-Imandra belt (the Kola Peninsula) and komatiites and basalts in the Karasjok-Kittilä belt (Norway and Finnmark). Together with lithostratigraphic, chemical and isotope evidence, these ages suggest the derivation of the three provinces from a single large (～2000?km in diameter) mantle plume. These plume-generated magmas covered ～600,000?km² of the Baltic Shield and represent a major contribution of juvenile material to the existing continental crust at 2.0 Ga. The uppermost Onega plateau lavas have high (Nb/Th)_N?=?1.4–2.4, (Nb/La)_N= 1.1–1.3, positive ?Nd(T) of +3.2 and unradiogenic Pb-isotope composition (μ₁?= 8.57), comparable with those of modern oceanic plume-derived magmas (oceanic flood basalt and ocean island basalt). These parameters are regarded as source characteristics. The lower sequences have (Nb/Th)_N= 0.58–1.2, (Nb/La)_N= 0.52–0.88 and ?Nd(T) =?2.6. They have experienced mixing with 10–30% of continental crust and resemble contaminated lavas from other continental flood basalt provinces. The estimated Nb/U ratios of 53?±?4 in the uncontaminated rocks are similar to those found in the modern mantle (～47) suggesting that by 2.0 Ga a volume of continental crust similar to the present-day value already existed.     

Indian Continental Crust Recovered from Elan Bank, Kerguelen Plateau (ODP Leg 183, Site 1137)

At Site 1137 on Elan Bank of the Kerguelen Plateau, a largeigneous province in the southern Indian Ocean, a fluvial, volcaniclastic,polymict conglomerate and a fluvial sandstone are intercalatedwith subaerially erupted tholeiitic basalt flows. Clasts recoveredfrom the conglomerate have highly variable lithologies, includingalkali basalt, rhyolite, trachyte, granitoid and gneiss. Majorand trace element abundances and whole-rock isotopic data forthe sandstones, the conglomerate matrix and representative clastsfrom the conglomerate are used to infer the origin of thesediverse rock types. The gneiss clasts show an affinity to crustalrocks from India, particularly those of the Eastern Ghats Beltand its possible East Antarctic corollary, the Rayner Complex.The felsic volcanic clasts are not genetically related to theintercalated basalt flows, despite being erupted contemporaneouslywith these basaltic magmas. These felsic volcanic clasts probablyformed from partial melting of evolved upper continental crust.The granitoid also probably formed by partial melting of continentalcrust and could be an intrusive equivalent of the felsic volcanicrocks. In contrast, the alkali basalt clasts have isotopic compositionsthat are more similar to those of the tholeiitic basalt flowsrecovered at Site 1137; however, these clasts are highly alkalic(tephrite to phonotephrite) and have a distinct petrogenesisfrom the tholeiitic basalt flow units. KEY WORDS: geochemistry; Indian Ocean; Kerguelen Plateau; large igneous provinces; Ocean Drilling Program     

塔里木溢流玄武岩的喷发特征

通过对柯坪地区二叠系野外火山岩露头剖面和英买力、哈拉哈塘井区二叠系火山岩钻井剖面的对比,将塔里木早二叠世溢流玄武岩划分为三个旋回,从老到新依次是:库普库兹满溢流玄武岩旋回(KP),长英质火山碎屑岩旋回(FP)和开派兹雷克溢流玄武岩旋回(KZ)。KP旋回以巨厚溢流玄武岩夹凝灰岩为特征,在柯坪露头区和英买力井区均可划分出三层巨厚玄武质熔岩流,至哈拉哈塘井区减少为一层玄武岩流,但长英质火山碎屑岩和熔岩厚度增加。FP旋回在柯坪露头区自下而上包括空落相凝灰岩,熔结凝灰岩,再沉积火山碎屑岩和正常碎屑岩夹火山灰层,该层可与英买力及哈拉哈塘井区的凝灰岩层对比,表明在塔北存在一期面积广泛的长英质火山喷发。KZ旋回以溢流玄武岩为主,在开派兹雷克剖面识别出四期喷发共8层溢流玄武岩和一期安山质玄武岩,每期喷发之间夹少量碎屑岩,但未见长英质火山碎屑岩夹层,该特征与英买力和哈拉哈塘井区的火山层序组合不同,而与塔中溢流玄武岩类似。三个火山旋回的划分表明塔里木大火成岩省经历了"基性溢流玄武岩-酸性火山碎屑岩-基性溢流玄武岩"的演变过程,与Afro-Arabian溢流玄武岩省相似,可进行对比研究。     

Lower-Middle Triassic rocks in the Enmynveem River (western Chukotka)

The Lower-Middle Triassic section of the Enmynveem River dated on the basis of macrofauna includes three genetic types of sediments with different structural-textural features: (1) sediments of high-density autokinetic flows; (2) sediments of low-density turbidity flows; and (3) background sediments with thin interlayers of fine-grained turbidites. It has been established that sandy-silty sediments of all three genetic types formed on the continental slope in deep-water conditions, but their accumulation was related to the erosion of rocks in various provenances. Some sediments were formed as the result of the erosion of proximal volcanic complexes, whereas other sediments were related to the erosion of metamorphic rocks on the distal continental land.     

Detection of sub-basaltic sediments by a multi-parametric joint inversion approach

In many parts of the world sedimentary horizons with potential for hydrocarbon are located below flood basalt provinces. However, the presence of high velocity basaltic overburden makes delineation of sediments difficult due to the low velocity layer problem. Electrical and electromagnetic methods have been used in such scenarios because of the good electrical conductivity contrast between basalts and underlying sediments. However, mapping of the target sediments becomes difficult when the layer is thin as the data errors due to inherent noise lead to equivalent solutions. To tackle such difficult situations, a joint inversion scheme incorporating seismic reflection and refraction, magnetotelluric and deep electrical resistivity datasets is presented. Efficacy of the scheme is tested for a model comprising a thin sedimentary layer sandwiched between a thick basalt cover and a granitic basement. The results indicate that the parameters of the target sedimentary layer are either poorly resolved or equivalent solutions are obtained by the inversion of individual datasets. Joint inversions of seismic reflection (RFLS) and refraction (RFRS), or DC and MT dataset pairs provide improved results and the range of equivalent solutions is narrowed down. Combination of any three of the above datasets leads to further narrowing of this range and improvements in mean model estimates. Joint inversion incorporating all the datasets is found to yield good estimates of the structure. Resolution analysis is carried out to appraise estimates of various model parameters obtained by jointly inverting different combinations of datasets.     

Possible correlation of Oligocene climate changes with Ethiopian Oligocene ignimbrite eruptions

The Oligocene Ethiopian continental flood basalt province (ca. 29–31 Ma) contains significant silicic pyroclastic rocks (>60,000 km³ constituting up to 20% of the volcanic stratigraphy). Rhyolitic tephras, synchronous with the Ethiopian silicic pyroclastic rocks, are found in Indian Ocean ODP holes 711A. They are geochemically akin to the Ethiopian silicic pyroclastic rocks. This suggests that the Indian Ocean tephras originated from Ethiopian silicic eruptions and represents more distal fallout of this volcanism. The temporal coincidence of the Ethiopian flood volcanism with the Oligocene global cooling event (Oi2?～?30.3 Ma) and the emplacement of the Ethiopian silicic pyroclastic eruptions on a near-global scale strongly suggest that the Ethiopian continental flood basalt province may have contributed or at least accelerated the climate change that was already underway.     

Late Triassic rifting and Jurassic–Cretaceous passive margin development of the Southern Neotethys: evidence from the Adıyaman area,SE Turkey

Evidence of rifting and continental break-up to form the S Neotethys is found within the volcanic-sedimentary Koçali Complex. This is a folded, thrust-imbricated succession that includes lavas, volcaniclastic sediments, pelagic carbonates, radiolarites and manganiferous deposits. Interbedded ribbon cherts contain radiolarians of Late Triassic to Late Jurassic age. The lower part of the succession of Mid?-Late Triassic age (Tarasa Formation) is dominated by enriched mid-ocean ridge basalt (E-MORB). The overlying Late Triassic to Mid-Jurassic interval (Konak Formation) is characterised by intercalations of ocean island basalt and E-MORB. Taking account of structural position, the basalts erupted within the outer part of a continent–ocean transition zone. Continental break-up probably occurred during the Late Triassic (Carnian–Norian). Early to Mid-Jurassic lavas and volcaniclastic sediments record volcanism probably after continental break-up. In addition, the Karadut Complex is a broken formation that is located at a relatively low structural position just above the Arabian foreland. Pelagic carbonates, redeposited carbonates and radiolarites predominate. Radiolarians are dated as Early to Mid-Jurassic and Late Cretaceous in age. The pelagic carbonates include planktic foraminifera of Late Cretaceous age. The Karadut Complex resulted from the accumulation of calcareous gravity flows, pelagic carbonate and radiolarites in a relatively proximal, base-of-slope setting. After continental break-up, MORB and ophiolitic rocks formed within the S Neotethys further north. Tectonic emplacement onto the Arabian platform took place by earliest Maastrichtian time. Regional interpretation is facilitated by comparisons with examples of Triassic rifting and continental break-up in the eastern Mediterranean region and elsewhere.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987111000181

This study investigates the mechanism of formation of convection plumes of mushroom shape in sub-solidus mantle and their prediction.The seismic-tomographic images of columnar structures of several hundreds kilometers in diameter have been reported by several researchers,while the much cherished mushroom-shaped plume heads could only be found in computational geodynamics(CGD) models and simple small-scale laboratory analogue simulations.Our theory of transient instability shows that the formation of conv...     

Chemistry of chromium spinel in high-Mg rocks from the Morungava Intrusion,Cretaceous Paraná Igneous Province,southernmost Brazil

Mineralogy and Petrology - Mafic-ultramafic intrusions within continental flood basalt terrains are frequently associated with Cu-Ni-PGE mineralization. This study aims to constrain the...     

Petrochemistry of Mesozoic mafic intrusions related to the Paraná Magmatic Province,Uruguay

The Cuaró Formation is part of the sequence of Mesozoic mafic intrusions related to the Early Cretaceous break-up of Gondwana and represents the southernmost occurrences within the Paraná Magmatic Province in Uruguay. We present field data, petrography and lithogeochemical results regarding these dike swarms and sills that crop out in the southern extreme of the Paraná Basin. Dolerites and sills mainly exhibit glomeroporphyritic textures; the phenocrysts consist of plagioclase, clinopyroxene, relicts of olivine and titaniferous magnetite. Bulk-rock geochemical analyses allowed their classification as low-Ti subalkaline tholeiitic basalts and andesitic basalts. Trace element data indicated that the protoliths of these intrusions include the subcontinental lithospheric mantle, as is generally recognized for other Gondwana-related continental flood basalt provinces.     

亚洲3个大火成岩省(峨眉山、西伯利亚、德干)对比研究

峨眉山(～260 Ma)、西伯利亚(～250 Ma)和德干(～66 Ma)大陆溢流玄武岩是世界上3个重要的大火成岩省.大火成岩省至少具有4个通常被用于识别古地幔柱的标志:(1)先于岩浆作用的地表隆升;(2)与大陆裂谷化和裂解事件相伴;(3)与生物灭绝事件联系密切;(4)地幔柱源玄武岩的化学特征.虽然这3个大火成岩省都是来源于原始地幔柱,但是它们的地球化学特征有本质上的差异,反映其地幔柱曾与不同的上地幔库相互作用.(1)峨眉山和西伯利亚大陆溢流玄武岩的母岩浆,在上升过程中经受了与地球化学上和古老克拉通岩石圈地幔相同的上地幔库(EM1型幔源)的相互作用;(2)而德干大火成岩省没有受到地壳(或岩石圈)混染的原生玄武岩则显示地幔柱和EM2之间的Sr-Nd同位素变化.这种差异有可能制约了3个大火成岩省的成矿潜力.峨眉山和西伯利亚大火成岩省含有世界级岩浆矿床,而德干大火成岩省则不含矿.     

西南暗色岩铜镍硫化物矿化岩体与峨眉山玄武岩的关系--以云南金宝山岩体为例

内容提要本文以金宝山为典型实例,根据元素地球化学特征探讨了西南暗色岩铜镍硫化物矿化岩体与峨眉山玄武岩的关系。分析表明,金宝山超镁铁岩与低钛峨眉山玄武岩在元素地球化学特征上具有一致的岩浆成因属性,两者在成岩机制上互补,低钛峨眉山玄武岩普遍经历了橄榄石结晶分异和硫化物熔离亏损作用,金宝山成矿岩体则与低钛峨眉山玄武岩同源岩浆深部分异的堆晶相相对应,由堆晶橄榄石及熔离硫化物和部分残余熔体构成的“晶-糊”侵位形成,因此认为铜镍硫化物矿床成矿岩体与低钛峨眉山玄武岩为同源异相产物。     

Basalt magmatism along the passive continental margin of SE Brazil (Campos basin)

The SE-Brazil passive continental margin is characterized by tholeiitic magmatism that is particularly widespread in the marginal Campos basin, facing the inland flood basalts of the adjacent Paranà basin. Campos magmatism is represented by Early Cretaceous (EC; 134–122 Ma) flood basalts and minor Upper Cretaceous-Early Tertiary basalt flows and intrusives, which were emplaced in a basin with attenuated crustal thickness (20 km). Petrography, mineral chemistry, wholerock geochemistry and Sr–Nd isotope composition emphasize that the EC-Campos basalts have suffered extensive seawater interaction which caused enrichment in MgO, FeO total, K₂O, Rb and Ba, and depletion in SiO₂ and CaO, while Zr, Nb, Y and REE remained virtually constant in samples with loss-on-ignition values less than 4 wt%. In general, Campos basalts have bulkrock chemistry similar to those of the inland Parana tholeiites (140–130 Ma) with relatively low concentrations of incompatible elements and TiO₂ (<2 wt%). Batch-melting calculations suggest that Campos basalt genesis requires a garnet-peridotite source and variable degree of melting (9–25%) in order to explain the rare-earth-element (REE) patterns with chondrite normalised La/Yb_(N) ratio ranging from 0.9–1.0 to 4.4–7.1. The Sr–Nd isotopic data for the slightly altered Campos basalts, of both Early Cretaceous and Upper Cretaceous-Early Tertiary age, plot close to bulk earth, or in the enriched quadrant of the mantle array. Inter-element (La, Zr, Nb, Ba) ratios preclude for the Campos (and Paranà) basalt genesis any significant participation of N-type (Zr/Nb>16) MORB (mid-ocean-ridge basalt) mantle in simple binary mixing models. On the whole, the Early Cretaceous Campos basalts appear as an easterly, younger extension of the northern Paranà volcanism and probably erupted during early stages of the major riftingprocesses which caused continental thinning. It is notable that in the Campos marginal basin both the basalt magmatism contemporaneous with the continental break-up, as well as that which occurred after the S. America-Africa separation, appears substantially related to subcontinental lithosphere and a Dupal-like OIB (ocean-island basalt) (e.g. Tristan da Cunha) source components.     

Lead isotopic systematics for native copperchalcocite mineralization in basaltic lavas of the Emeishan large igneous province, SW China： Implications for the source of copper

The Emeishan continental flood basalt, which is widespread in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan provinces of Southwest China, is the volcanic product of a Permian mantle plume, and native copper-chalcocite mineralization associated with the basalt is very common in the border area of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces. The mineralization occurred in the tuff intercalation and terrestrial sedimentary rock intercalation which were formed during the main period of basalt eruption. The orebodies are controlled by the stratigraphic position and faults. Metal ore minerals in the ores are mainly native copper, chalcocite and tenorite, with small amounts of chalcopyrite, bomite, pyrite and malachite, and sometimes with large amounts of bitumen, carbon and plant debris. Several decades of ore deposits are distributed in the neighboring areas of the two provinces, while most of them are small-scale deposits or only ore occurrences. By comparing the lead isotopic composition of the ores with that of the wall-rocks, cover and basement rocks of various periods, the source of copper in this type of ore deposits was studied in this paper. The results showed that: (1) The Pb isotopic composition of the ores from ten deposits is absolutely different from that of sili-ceous-argillaceus rocks of the Upper Permian Xuanwei Formation, limestones of the Lower Permian Series and Carboniferous, Cambrian sandstone-shale and recta-sedimentary rock and dolomite from the upper part of the Meso-Proterozoic Kunyang Group, This indicates that ore lead was derived neither from the cover rock nor from the basement rocks; (2) Although the Neo-Proterozoic Siman dolomite and silicalite, and dolomite in the lower part of the Kunyang Group are similar in Pb isotopic composition to the ores, lead and copper contents in these rocks are very low and they have not made great contributions to copper mineralization; (3) The ores have the same Pb iso-topic composition as the basalt, the latter being enriched in copper. These facts indicate that lead and copper were derived from the basalt. According to the regional geological data and the geological-geochemical characteristics of the ore deposits, it is suggested that ore-forming materials were leached out from the basalt. The thickness and buried depth of the basalt and regional tectonic dynamics can affect the formation of large-scale copper deposits. Therefore, exploration for this type of ore deposits should be conducted in the areas from western Yunnan to western Sichuan, where there are developed basalts of great thickness, with extensive tectonic movement and magmatic activity.     

攀西古裂谷内龙帚山玄武岩—碱玄响岩建造

在川、滇、黔三省晚二叠世峨眉山玄武岩省的中部，产于攀西古裂谷内的龙帚山火山岩建造自下而上有4个喷发旋回：拉斑玄武岩、碱玄响岩、钾粗面玄武岩以及拉斑玄武岩。上下两个玄武岩旋回的岩性与该裂谷带以外大面积展布的高钛玄武岩岩性相同；而其碱玄响岩旋回主要由响碱玄岩—碱玄响岩—响岩岩系组成，夹粗安岩和安粗岩层，此旋回厚达千米，类似于非洲肯尼亚裂谷带的高原溢流响岩岩系。龙帚山晚二叠世火山岩建造的层序和岩石组合不同于古裂谷带外正常的大陆板内暗色岩喷出相的层序和岩浆演化规律，可能是地幔热柱和裂谷背景下岩石圈拉张复合作用的结果。