The Godzilla Megamullion,the largest oceanic core complex on the earth: a historical review

The Godzilla Megamullion is the largest known oceanic core complex (OCC) on the Earth, located in the Parece Vela Basin in the Philippine Sea. In this article, the history of Godzilla Megamullion study is reviewed for the first time, dividing it into three major phases: (i) the early studies done before Japan's extended continental shelf survey program; (ii) the studies during Japan's extended continental shelf survey program that discovered the OCC; and (iii) the studies by the post‐discovery cruises. The early studies included an interpretation of US nautical chart of the southwestern Pacific and the site surveys for Deep Sea Drilling Project cruises (DSDP Legs 6, 31 and 59). The early studies recognized the presence of the Parece Vela Rift, the extinct spreading axis of the Parece Vela Basin, and established the currently accepted model that the Philippine Sea evolved with eastward progression of backarc spreading and arc migration. The modern understanding of the Parece Vela Basin comes from Japan's extended continental shelf survey program. The program revealed the ultramafic petrology as well as a two‐stage evolution model of the basin. Following these results, the discovery of the Godzilla Megamullion was made in 2001. The studies by the post‐discovery cruises further revealed important characteristics of the OCC, such as the presence of abundant plagioclase‐bearing peridotite and the systematic temporal changes in both deformation microstructures and composition of plagioclase and amphibole in gabbroic mylonites and ultramylonites. Zircon U–Pb ages of gabboric and leucocratic rocks indicate that the terminal phase of Parece Vela Basin spreading was with a significant decline in spreading rate and asymmetry accompanying formation of the Godzilla Megamullion. The estimated denudation rate of the OCC was approximately 2.5 cm/yr; significantly slower than the previous estimate based on poorly constrained magnetic data.     

Mantle process beneath Philippine Sea back-arc spreading ridges: A synthesis of peridotite petrology and tectonics

Abstract In order to obtain a general view of the mantle process beneath a back‐arc basin spreading ridge, the diversity of peridotite petrology and tectonic occurrences in two back‐arc basin spreading ridges from the Philippine Sea were examined: the Parece Vela Rift and the Mariana Trough. The Parece Vela Basin spreading ridge (Parece Vela Rift) was a physically fast/intermediate‐spreading ridge, although many tectono‐magmatic features resemble those of slow‐ to ultraslow‐spreading ridges. Two unusual features of the Parece Vela Rift further demonstrate the uniqueness of the ridge: full‐axial development of oceanic core complexes and exposure of mantle peridotite at segment midpoints. The Parece Vela Rift yields a lithological assemblage of residual but still fertile lherzolite/harzburgite, plagioclase‐bearing harzburgite and dunite; similar assemblages are reported from the equatorial Mid‐Atlantic Ridge at the Romanche Fracture Zone and the ultraslow‐spreading ridges from the Indian and Arctic Oceans. The tectono‐magmatic characteristics of the Parece Vela Rift suggest that diffuse porous melt flow and pervasive melt–mantle interaction were the important mantle processes there. Globally, this ‘porous melt flow‐type’ mantle process is likely to occur beneath a segment midpoint of the ridge having a thick lithosphere, typically an ultraslow‐spreading ridge. In contrast, the Mariana Trough is a typical slow‐spreading ridge, exposing mantle peridotite at segment ends. The Mariana Trough yields a lithological assemblage of residual harzburgite and veined harzburgite, a common assemblage among the global abyssal peridotite suite. The tectono‐magmatic characteristics of the Mariana Trough suggest that channeled melt/fluid flow and limited melt–mantle interaction are the important mantle processes there, because of the colder wall‐rock peridotite in the segment end. This ‘channeled melt flow‐type’ mantle process is likely to occur in the shallow lithospheric mantle at the segment ends of any spreading ridges.     

Variation of crustal thickness in the Philippine Sea deduced from three-dimensional gravity modeling

Abstract   Crustal thickness of the northern to central Philippine Sea was gravimetrically determined on the simple assumption of four layers: seawater, sediments, crust and lithospheric mantle, with densities of 1030, 2300, 2800 and 3300 kg/m³, respectively. As for the correction of the regional gravity variation, a 15 km difference of the lithospheric thickness with a density difference of 50 kg/m³ against the asthenosphere below between both sides of the Kyushu-Palau Ridge was taken into consideration. Mantle Bouguer anomalies were calculated on the assumption of constant crustal thickness of 6 km, and then the crustal thickness was obtained by three-dimensional gravity inversion method. The results show occurrence of thin crust areas with a thickness of approximately 5 km in the southern part and at the western margin of the Shikoku Basin and also of thick crust areas in the northwestern and northeastern parts of the Parece Vela Basin. We suggest that these are because of the variation of magma supply at the time of sea floor spreading in the Shikoku and Parece Vela Basins, which is possibly related to the variation of spreading rate and enhanced magmatism near the past arc volcanic fronts. The results further show the occurrence of crust thinner than 5 km in the northeastern part of the West Philippine Basin, of crust thicker than 15 km in the Amami Plateau, the Daito and Oki-Daito Ridges, and also in the northern part of Kyushu-Palau Ridge, whereas the southern part of the Kyushu-Palau Ridge the crust is thicker than 10 km. It was also inferred that small basins in the Daito Ridge province have the thinnest oceanic crust of less than 5 km in the Kita-Daito Basin.     

中国海-西太平洋地区典型剖面的重-磁-震联合反演研究

重-磁-震联合反演是获取地壳结构的重要方法.此次研究,我们主要基于全球最新的水深、重磁异常、沉积物厚度等数据,结合实测地震数据和前人研究成果,分析了中国海-西太平洋地区的莫霍面展布特征,并利用重磁震联合反演方法获得了跨越中国海-西太平洋典型剖面的地壳结构和异常体分布,揭示了陆壳到洋壳的典型变化规律.结果表明,从浙江地区到马里亚纳俯冲带,地壳结构大致呈现由厚到薄、由老到新、由复杂到简单的特征.浙江地区（扬子块体和华夏块体）地壳结构复杂,三层结构明显,地壳内断裂带发育,并伴有广泛的岩浆侵入;东海地区莫霍面起伏剧烈,地壳厚度变化较大,冲绳海槽地壳明显减薄,是其过渡壳性质的体现;西菲律宾海盆、九州-帕劳海脊、帕里西维拉海盆、马里亚纳俯冲带等构造单元地壳结构相对简单,二层结构明显.其中,西菲律宾海盆和帕里西维拉海盆地壳内部磁异常变化较为剧烈,海盆扩张过程中形成的磁异常体分布广泛,地壳厚度（5~8 km）明显小于陆壳;九州-帕劳海脊地壳厚度可达~20 km,缺失中地壳,表现为岛弧地壳结构;同源的西马里亚纳岛弧和东马里亚纳火山弧地壳结构相似,浅层磁异常体分布广泛,西马里亚纳岛弧地壳厚度（~17 km）略小于东马里亚纳火山弧（~20 km）,体现了裂离的不对称性;马里亚纳海槽具有正常的洋壳结构（~7 km）,但扩张中心未发生明显破裂.对比各构造单元地壳结构的异同点,我们进一步认识到,陆壳与洋壳之间不是孤立的,陆壳可能会演化出洋壳的结构或组分,板块的演化总是处于动态循环过程中.此研究加深了我们对中国海-西太平洋深部构造特征的整体理解,促进了我们对大陆边缘演化与板块相互作用的认识,深化了我国管辖海域及邻近地区的基础地质调查.     

Seismic reflection imaging of an oceanic detachment fault: Atlantis megamullion (Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 30°10′N)

We present multichannel seismic reflection data collected over the Atlantis megamullion, at the eastern ridge-transform intersection of Atlantis fracture zone on the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and over its conjugate crust. These data image for the first time the internal structure of a young, well-developed megamullion dome formed by tectonic extension across a long-lived oceanic detachment fault. The exposed, corrugated detachment-fault surface exhibits a sharp, coherent reflection that contrasts with less organized reflectivity of surrounding basaltic seafloor. At the termination of the megamullion the fault is imaged ∼13 km along-strike beneath a volcanic hanging-wall block at a sub-seafloor depth of 0.2-0.5 s two-way travel time, reaching north as far as 30°19′N. The eastward dipping of the fault beneath the hanging-wall block is estimated to be ∼6-14°. The corrugated fault surface is underlain by a continuous, strong, and relatively smooth reflection (D) at 0.2-0.25 s sub-bottom below the central axis of the dome. This reflection deepens up to 0.6 s sub-bottom beneath the western slope and it appears to intersect the seafloor on the eastern slope. We suggest that Atlantis massif formed by sequential slip on two different detachment faults that merged at depth, with breakaways as little as ∼2 km apart. The initial detachment is represented by reflection D, and the second corresponds to the presently exposed fault surface. In this interpretation, much of the sliver between the faults is interpreted to be strongly serpentinized peridotite with reduced seismic velocity; it lies in contact with less altered, higher-velocity mantle below the first detachment, resulting in the strong, smooth character of reflection D. Mantle rocks exposed in the megamullion indicate that the feature formed during a period of extreme tectonic extension and probably limited magmatism. In conjugate crust corresponding to termination of the megamullion, observed sub-bottom reflections are interpreted as base of seismic layer 2A. This layer is as thick as or thicker (∼570-900 m) than layer 2A in normal Atlantic crust, and it suggests that relatively normal crustal accretion occurred by the time the megamullion stopped forming.     

A new model of back-arc spreading in the Parece Vela Basin, northwest Pacific margin

Abstract Swath bathymetric data, single-channel seismic reflection profiles, magnetic and gravity anomalies in the northern part of the Parece Vela (West Mariana) Basin were obtained by comprehensive surveys conducted by the Hydrographic Department of Japan. The central zone of the Parece Vela Basin is characterized by the north-south trending chain of depressions in a right-stepping en echelon alignment. The morphology of these depressions is diamond shaped and bordered by steep escarpments of 1000-1500 m relative height. These fault escarpments extend northeastward and southwestward from the depressions into the surrounding basin floor and then gradually fade out. These escarpments have an S-shaped trend, and their geometry seems to be symmetric about the depressions. Minor ridges and troughs trending orthogonal to these escarpments are recognized. It is concluded that these depressions and escarpments are the topographic expression of extinct spreading axes and S-shaped transform faults, respectively. The age of the central depressions seems to be young, although details of tectonic processes forming them remains unsolved. The western province of the basin floor and basement is extremely rugged and characterized by minor ridges and troughs trending in a north-south direction. Although magnetic anomalies of the basin are very weak, magnetic lineations trending parallel to the topographic trend are recognizable in the central and western parts of the basin. Based on updated geomorpholog-ical features and magnetic anomalies revealed by the present survey, together with the previously published data including drilling results, it is proposed that the evolution of Parece Vela Basin took place in four stages of opening and tectonic activity: rifting, east-west spreading, northeast-southwest spreading with counter-clockwise rotation of spreading axes, and post-spreading deformation and volcanism. This proposed spreading model of the Parece Vela Basin is similar to that of the adjacent Shikoku Basin. The spreading axes of both basins were segmented and gradually rotated counter-clockwise in a later phase of the basin evolution, after the cessation of relatively uniform spreading nearly in an east-west direction.     

The effect of a hydrous phase on P‐wave velocity anisotropy within a detachment shear zone in the slow‐spreading oceanic crust: A case study from the Godzilla Megamullion,Philippine Sea

We studied the contributions of plagioclase, clinopyroxene, and amphibole to the P‐wave velocity properties of gabbroic mylonites of the Godzilla Megamullion (site KH07‐02‐D18) in the Parece Vela Rift of the central Parece Vela Basin, Philippine Sea, based on their crystal‐preferred orientations (CPOs), mineral modes, and elastic constants and densities of single crystals. The gabbroic mylonites have been classified into three types based on their microstructures and temperature conditions: HT1, HT2 and medium‐temperature (MT) mylonites. The P‐wave velocity properties of the HT1 mylonite are dominantly influenced by plagioclase CPOs. Secondary amphibole occurred after deformation in the HT1 mylonite, so that its effect on P‐wave velocity anisotropy is minimal due to weak CPOs. Although the HT2 mylonite developed deformation microstructures in the three minerals, the P‐wave velocity properties of the HT2 mylonite are essentially isotropic, resulting from the destructive interference of different P‐wave velocity anisotropy patterns produced by the distinct CPOs of the three constituent minerals (i.e., plagioclase, clinopyroxene, and amphibole). The P‐wave velocity properties of the MT mylonite are influenced mainly by amphibole CPOs, whereas the effect of plagioclase CPOs on P‐wave velocity anisotropy becomes very small with a decrease in the intensity of plagioclase CPOs. As a result, the gabbroic mylonites tend to have weak P‐wave velocity anisotropy in seismic velocity, although their constituent minerals show distinct CPOs. Such weakness in the whole‐rock P‐wave velocity anisotropy could result from the destructive contributions of the different mineral CPOs with respect to the structural framework (foliation and lineation). These results show that amphibole has a high potential for P‐wave velocity anisotropy by aligning both crystallographically and dimensionally during deformation in the hydrous oceanic crust. The results also suggest that the effect of a hydrous phase on P‐wave velocity anisotropy within the detachment shear zone in a slow‐spreading oceanic crust varies depending on the degree of deformation and on the timing of hydrothermal activity.     

Hahajima Seamount: An enigmatic tectonic block at the junction between the Izu–Bonin and Mariana Trenches

Abstract   The Hahajima Seamount, located at the junction between the Izu–Bonin and Mariana forearc slopes, is a notable rectangular shape and consists of various kinds of rocks. An elaborated bathymetric swath mapping with geophysical measurements and dredge hauls showed the Hahajima Seamount is cut by two predominating lineaments, northeast–southwest and northwest–southeast. These lineaments are of faults based on the topographic cross-sections and a 3-D view (whale's eye view). The former lineament is parallel to the transform faults of the Parece Vela Basin, whereas the latter is parallel to the nearby transform fault on the subducting Pacific Plate. The rocks constituting the seamount are ultramafic rocks (mostly harzburgite), boninite, basalt, andesite, gabbro, breccia and sedimentary rocks, which characterize an island arc and an ocean basin. Gravity measurement and seismic reflection survey offer neither a definite gravity anomaly at the seamount nor definite internal structures beneath the seamount. A northwest–southeast-trending fault and small-scale serpentine flows were observed during submersible dives at the Hahajima Seamount. The rectangular shape, size of the seamount, various kinds of rocks and geophysical measurements strongly suggest that the Hahajima Seamount is not a simple serpentine seamount controlled by various tectonic movements, as previously believed, but a tectonic block.     

Amphibolitization within the lower crust in the termination area of the Godzilla Megamullion,an oceanic core complex in the Parece Vela Basin

Gabbroic rocks and amphibolites were collected from the KR03‐01‐D10 dredge site located on the West Arm Rise of the Godzilla Megamullion, close to the Parece Vela Rift which appears to correspond to the termination area of a detachment fault, the Philippine Sea. The gabbroic rocks and amphibolites reveal the occurrence of a high hydrothermal activity in the lower crust close to a paleo‐ridge. In the gabbroic rocks, plagioclase compositions of both porphyroclasts and matrix were transformed into sodium‐rich compositions close to albite. Amphiboles are of secondary rather than igneous origin based on their microstructural occurrences. In the amphibolites, anorthite contents of porphyroclasts and matrix plagioclase are relatively lower than those of the gabbroic rocks, whereas the chemical compositions of amphibole within the amphibolites are similar to those of amphibole within the gabbroic rocks. Amphibolites represent the product of retrograde metamorphism associated with hydrothermal alteration of the gabbroic body by the reaction: clinopyroxene + calcic plagioclase + fluid → amphibole + sodic plagioclase. The estimated temperatures of the amphibolites derived from the amphibole thermobarometer and the gabbroic rocks derived from the hornblende–plagioclase geothermometer show ～700–950°C and 650–840°C, respectively. The hydrothermal alteration recorded in the gabbroic rocks possibly occurred under high‐T conditions; the rocks were then metamorphosed to the amphibolites during a retrogressive stage. Our study indicates that amphibolitization took place with various degrees of deformation. It may imply that the hydrothermal activity increased as the Godzilla Megamullion developed as an oceanic core complex in the paleo‐ridge.     

“松科二井”邻域岩石圈精细结构特征及动力学环境——深地震反射剖面的揭示

为揭示"松科二井"邻域岩石圈精细结构特征,布设了一条过井近南北向的深地震反射剖面,采用多尺度药量结合的激发技术,长排列、重点段加密接收高次覆盖的采集方式,通过高保真、高保幅的处理流程获得高分辨率、高信噪比的叠前时间偏移剖面.结果显示:T4反射轴之下沉积岩层状反射与火成岩杂乱反射相间,有两处疑似上古生界地层,分别位于松科二井下方(双程走时,Two way travel time,TWT,3.5～4s)和任民—永安断隆下方(CDP,3500～4500,TWT,3～4s);中下地壳可观察到近平行的北倾反射,中和断陷下方存在上下关联的透镜状强反射,整体轮廓呈蘑菇云状,解释其为岩石圈伸展构造中发育的深部热流底辟体;北部莫霍面呈近水平连续强反射,南部徐家围子断陷区域莫霍面反射较弱,同时剖面上存在3种明显的岩石圈上地幔反射,包括倾斜地幔反射、近水平地幔反射和超深地幔反射,推断其分别为早期俯冲遗迹、早期增厚地壳底界面以及现今岩石圈底界面.本文利用过松科二井地震剖面的最新成果,揭示出古亚洲洋、蒙古—鄂霍茨克洋和古太平洋三大构造域先后作用下,保留在松嫩地块岩石圈内的结构特征,为探讨松辽盆地形成原因、构造背景及动力学因素提供新视野.     

Structure of a Volcanic Continental Margin Derived from Ocean-bottom Seismographic Data: The Northern Vøring Margin, off Norway

—This paper presents a crustal model derived from an Ocean Bottom Seismograph (OBS) study along the northern Vøring margin off Norway. The profile was acquired to map the crustal structure in the northernmost part of the Vøring Basin, and to link crustal models of the Lofoten and central Vøring Basin obtained by previous OBS studies. The Vøring margin, as well as the Lofoten margin to the north, was created by continental breakup between Norway and Greenland in late Paleocene-early Eocene. The rifting and continental breakup process were accompanied by intense extrusive and intrusive magmatic activities. The OBS data provide the whole crustal structure along the northern Vøring margin, in the area where the deep crustal structure cannot be resolved by conventional multichannel reflection data due to sill intrusions in the sedimentary sequence. The shallow part of the crustal model is characterized by up to 10 km thick sediments, a sequence of flood basalts and sill intrusions. The P-wave velocities in the flood basalts and sill intrusions are estimated to 5.0 km/s and 4.7–5.8 km/s, respectively. The model indicates an abrupt thickening of the upper crystalline crust from approx.3 km in the NE, to about 10 km towards the SE, with velocities of 6.0–6.2 km/s. The lower crustal velocities are not well resolved due to lack of clear refraction arrivals from the lower crust. However, the observed amplitude versus offsets are best explained by a model with a change in lower crustal velocities from 6.8 to 7.2 km/s beneath the Bivrost lineament. The modelling infers the presence of a lower crustal reflector beneath the lineament, which represents the landward continuation of the Bivrost lineament. Reflection arrivals from the Moho reveal a Moho depth of 23 km in the middle of the profile and 18– 20 km in the northeastern part of the profile. A 370 km long crustal section from the central part of the Vøring Basin to the Lofoten margin, obtained by the results of this study and previous OBS studies, shows a simple thinned continental crust on the Lofoten margin, and a high velocity lower crust underlying an upper crust of varying thickness in the Vøring Basin. The transition between these structures is situated beneath the Bivrost lineament in the lower crust, and beneath the basement high about 40 km south of the lineament in the upper crust.     

Relicts of deformed lithospheric mantle within serpentinites and weathered peridotites from the Godzilla Megamullion,Parece Vela Back‐arc Basin,Philippine Sea

Relicts of deformed lithospheric mantle have been identified within serpentinites and weathered peridotites recovered from nine dredge sites and one submersible dive site from across the Godzilla Megamullion, which was emplaced at the now‐extinct Parece Vela Rift in the Parece Vela Basin, a back‐arc basin in the Philippine Sea. The serpentinites consist dominantly of lizardite ± chrysotile and magnetite with minor relict primary minerals that include pyroxene, spinel, and rare olivine. The weathered peridotites consist of pyroxene, spinel, lizardite ± chrysotile, and magnetite as well as weathering products of olivine. These rocks were classified in hand specimen into three types with different structures: massive, foliated, and mylonitic. In thin‐section the serpentine minerals show no sign of deformation, whereas relict primary minerals show evidence of plastic deformation such as undulose extinction, kink bands, dynamic recrystallization, and weak to moderate crystallographic preferred orientations. Therefore, the serpentinites and weathered peridotites result from the static replacement and weathering of previously ductile‐deformed peridotite. Given their location close to or on the detachment surface that exposed them, the relicts of peridotite provide evidence of deformation in the lithospheric mantle that could be related to the formation and emplacement of the Godzilla Megamullion in the Parece Vela Rift.     

三河-平谷8.0级地震区地壳结构和活动断裂研究——利用单次覆盖深反射和浅层地震剖面

跨1679年三河-平谷8.0级地震区完成的单次覆盖深地震反射剖面和浅层地震反射剖面,揭示了三河-平谷地震区的地壳结构和断裂的深、浅构造特征.结果表明,该区地壳以TWT6～7 s左右的强反射带为界分为上地壳和下地壳,上地壳厚约18～21 km,下地壳厚约13～15 km.剖面揭示的地壳深断裂和浅部活动断裂具有上下一致的对...     

利用背景噪声成像技术反演陕西及邻区地壳剪切波速度结构

利用地震背景噪声层析成像技术处理陕西及邻区所布设的257个宽频带台站的连续背景噪声数据,采用基于射线追踪的面波频散直接反演方法获得陕西及邻区地壳(6～39 km)高分辨率剪切波速度结构。成像结果显示:(1)渭河盆地顶部形成于新生代,厚的沉积层造成其浅部显著的低速异常,盆地中、上地壳为低速结构。渭河盆地与南北两侧地质构造单元交界区域的下方存在高速与低速结合带,以及在块体间相互运动的作用下,在块体内部,特别是界带深部可能存在着物质与能量的强烈交换,为渭河盆地及邻区的地震孕育发生提供深部环境。(2)南鄂尔多斯块体并不是一个均匀的整体,块体地壳浅层东薄西厚的低速异常结构,可能与鄂尔多斯自显生宙以来的整体掀斜,以及晚白垩纪以来差异性整体抬升和受强烈而不均匀的剥蚀有关。块体中地壳速度比上地壳和下地壳较高。壳内不存在显著的低速体,说明壳内低速体并没有贯穿整个鄂尔多斯地块。我们推测南鄂尔多斯块体仍保留着稳定克拉通的属性,其地壳结构可能反映了克拉通早期形成时的结构特征,至今还未遭受明显改造。(3)秦岭造山带东,西深部结构存在显著差异,具有分段分区的特征。造山带中地壳速度较高,可能因在板块碰撞和造山过程中,下地壳物质被抬升进入中地壳,从而造成中地壳速度偏高。     

天山造山带地区瑞利面波相速度与方位各向异性

天山造山带作为世界上陆内最大的造山带之一,现今地震活动频繁,造山运动强烈,是开展陆内造山和内陆地震活动研究的天然试验场.本文利用整个天山造山带地区国内及国际台网的108个地震台站连续三年的背景噪声资料,提取了8~50 s周期的瑞利面波相速度频散曲线,并构建了整个天山造山带地区的二维瑞利面波相速度与方位各向异性分布图像.结果表明：浅部结构与地表的地质构造单元具有较大的相关性.低波速异常主要分布于沉积层厚度较大的盆地地区,而高波速异常主要分布于构造活动比较活跃的山脉地区.东天山地区中下地壳存在比较弱的低波速异常,而塔里木盆地和准噶尔盆地汇聚边缘的上地幔区域则表现为明显的高波速异常,各向异性快波方向呈现近NS向的特征,暗示着塔里木盆地和准噶尔盆地的岩石圈已经俯冲至东天山的下方.中天山地区的中下地壳至上地幔区域均呈现为明显的低波速异常,且各向异性快波方向变化比较复杂,表明中天山地区的整个岩石圈结构已经弱化,热物质上涌可能对介质的方位各向异性有一定的影响.西天山及帕米尔高原的上地幔区域存在低波速异常,各向异性表现为NW-SE方向,可能与欧亚板块的大陆岩石圈南向俯冲有关.塔里木盆地内部存在相对弱的低波速异常,推测塔里木盆地可能已经受到上涌的地幔热物质的侵蚀和破坏.     

New insights on the origin of troctolites from the breakaway area of the Godzilla Megamullion (Parece Vela back‐arc basin): The role of melt‐mantle interaction on the composition of the lower crust

The troctolites and olivine‐gabbros from the Dive 6 K‐1147 represent the most primitive gabbroic rocks collected at the Godzilla Megamullion, a giant oceanic core complex formed at an extinct spreading segment of the Parece Vela back‐arc basin (Philippine Sea). Previous investigations have shown that these rocks have textural and major elements mineral compositions consistent with a formation through multistage interaction between mantle‐derived melts and a pre‐existing ultramafic matrix. New investigations on trace element mineral compositions basically agree with this hypothesis. Clinopyroxenes and plagioclase have incompatible element signatures similar to that of typical‐MORB. However, the clinopyroxenes show very high Cr contents (similar to those of mantle clinopyroxene) and rim having sharply higher Zr/REE ratios with respect to the core. These features are in contrast with an evolution constrained by fractional crystallization processes, and suggest that the clinopyroxene compositions are controlled by melt‐rock interaction processes. The plagioclase anorthite versus clinopyroxene Mg#[Mg/(Mg + Fe^Tot)] correlation of the Dive 6 K‐1147 rocks shows a trend much steeper than those depicted by other oceanic gabbroic sections. Using a thermodynamic model, we show that this trend is reproducible by fractionation of melts assimilating 1 g of mantle peridotite per 1 °C of cooling. This model predicts the early crystallization of high Mg# clinopyroxene, consistent with our petrological observation. The melt‐peridotite interaction process produces Na‐rich melts causing the crystallization of plagioclase with low anorthite component, typically characterizing the evolved gabbros from Godzilla Megamullion.     

Fault configuration produced by initial arc rifting in the Parece Vela Basin as deduced from seismic reflection data

Abstract   The Parece Vela Basin (PVB), which is a currently inactive back-arc basin of the Philippine Sea Plate, was formed by separation between the Izu-Ogasawara Arc (IOA) and the Kyushu-Palau Ridge (KPR). Elucidating the marks of the past back-arc opening and rifting is important for investigation of its crustal structure. To image its fault configurations and crustal deformation, pre-stack depth migration to multichannel seismic reflection was applied and data obtained by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology and Metal Mining Agency of Japan and Japan National Oil Corporation (Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation). Salient results for the pre-stack depth-migrated sections are: (i) deep reflectors exist around the eastern margin of KPR and at the western margin of IOA down to 8 km depth; and (ii) normal fault zones distributed at the eastern margin of the KPR (Fault zone A) and the western margin of the IOA (Fault zone B) have a total displacement of greater than 500 m associated with synrift sediments. Additional normal faults (Fault zone C) exist 20 km east of the Fault zone B. They are covered with sediment, which indicates deposition of recent volcanic products in the IOA. According to those results: (i) the fault displacement of more than 500 m with respect to initial rifting was approximately asymmetric at 25 Ma based on PSDM profiles; and (ii) the faults had reactivated after 23 Ma, based on the age of deformed sediments obtained from past ocean drillings. The age of the base sediments corresponds to those of spreading and rotation after rifting in the PVB. Fault zone C is covered with thick and not deformed volcanogenic sediments from the IOA, which suggests that the fault is inactive.     

利用地震面波研究中国地壳结构

本文利用地震面波频散资料进行反演, 得到了中国各地区地壳结构的层状模型。中国地壳可以划分为青藏、蒙古、华北、华南和塔里木等五个大陆块体, 其频散曲线和地壳层状结构是彼此不同的.一般可以用沉积层、花岗岩层和玄武岩层来代表, 后四个区在上地幔和玄武岩层中的波速值比较接近.青藏和华北地区在地壳中的平均波速值较低, 地壳结构的纵横向变化显著, 康腊面不是稳定而明显的速度间断面, 某些部位上存在着低速层, 这两个地区的地震活动之所以十分强烈, 与上述地壳深部构造有直接关系.其余三个地区的地壳显示了类似稳定地台的某些特征.中国沿海地区的地壳可以大致以长江口为界分成南北两部分, 分属于华北和华南地壳.中国地壳厚度在东部为32——40公里, 青藏高原60——70公里.沉积层在塔里木盆地最厚, 达11公里, 其他地区一般为3——8公里.      

Structural profile of the northwestern Caribbean

A seismic reflection and gravity profile across the continental margin of the Yucatan Peninsula, Yucatan Basin, Cayman Ridge, and Cayman Trough suggests that sediments in the Yucatan Basin consist of a thick succession of beds dominated by turbidites that overlie a thick but irregular sequence of beds, probably dominated by pelagic deposits. The so-called “Carib beds”, present elsewhere in the Caribbean, are not evident in the part of the basin crossed by this profile. The sedimentary section rests on a acoustic basement that probably represents the top of oceanic layer 2. A gravity model indicates that the crust beneath the Yucatan Basin is thin and therefore probably is oceanic in character. The crust thickens southward under the Cayman Ridge but thins again beneath the Cayman Trough. This local thickening is consistent with the suggestion that the Cayman Ridge is a rifted part of the Nicaraguan Rise.     

Tectonic controls on magma genesis and evolution in the northwestern United States

Field, chronologic, chemical, and isotopic data for late Cenozoic basaltic rocks from the northwestern United States illustrate the relationship between crustal structure and tectonic forces in controlling the genesis and evolution of continental volcanism. In the northwestern U.S., the first major episode of basaltic volcanism was triggered by crustal rifting in a “back-arc” environment, east of the westward-migrating volcanic arc created by the subduction of the Juan-de-Fuca plate beneath the North American plate. Rifting and volcanism were concentrated by pre-existing zones of crustal weakness associated with boundaries between the old Archean core of the continent and newly accreted terranes. Basalts erupted during this time (Columbia River, Steens Mountain) show evidence of significant fractionation histories including contamination by crust of varying age depending on the crustal structure at the eruption site. Presumably this reflects ponding and stagnation of primary magmas in the crust or at the crust-mantle interface due to their encounter with thick crust, not yet extended and still containing its low-density, easily fusible component. Continued rifting of this crust, and modification of its composition through extraction of rhyolitic partial melts and deposition of the fractionation products from primary basaltic melts, coupled with a shift in stress orientation roughly 10.5 Ma ago, allowed relatively unfractionated and uncontaminated magmas to begin reaching the surface. In the western part of the region (Oregon Plateau), these magmas tapped a mantle source similar to that which produced most of the ocean island basalts of the northern hemisphere. To the east (Snake River Plain), however, the mantle sampled by basaltic volcanism has isotopic characteristics suggesting it has preserved a record of incompatible element enrichment processes associated with the formation of the overlying Archean crustal section some 2.6 Ga ago.