Structural units of the central arctic and their relations to the mesozoic arctic plume

The integration of information obtained from onshore and offshore geological and geophysical research undertaken in the context of the International Polar Year has led to the following results. The continental crust is widespread in the Arctic not only beneath the shelves of polar seas in the framework of the Amerasia Basin but also in the Chukchi-Northwind, Lomonosov, and Mendeleev ridges; a combination of continental and oceanic crusts is inferred in the Alpha Ridge. The Amerasia Basin is not an indivisible element of the Arctic Ocean either in genetic or structural terms but consists of variously oriented basins different in age. The first, Mesozoic “minor ocean” of the Arctic Ocean—the Canada Basin—arose as a result of impact of the Arctic plume on the high-latitude region of Pangea. This inference is supported by the vast Central Arctic igneous province that comprises the Jurassic-Mid-Cretaceous within-plate and ocean-island basaltic and associated rocks. The rotational mechanism of opening of this basin is explained by the slant path of the plume head motion, which resulted in breaking-off and displacement of a fragment of Pangea. The effect of the Arctic plume was expressed during all stages of the opening of the Canada Basin and exerted effects on the adjacent part of the Eurasian continent during the formation of the Verkhoyansk-Chukotka tectonic domain. The Canada Basin was an element of the segmented system of Atlantic spreading ridges, while the Arctic plume that initiated its evolution was genetically related to the episodically acting African-Atlantic superplume. In comparison with the Pacific superplume, the low productivity of African-Atlantic lower mantle upwelling became the cause of slow and ultraslow spreading in the Atlantic and Arctic oceans and determined the passive character of their margins, including the Canada Basin.     

对新疆北部蛇绿岩及相关问题的思考和认识

蛇绿岩是作为大陆古板块划分及洋壳存在的重要佐证,同时也是许多地质问题争论的焦点之一。关于新疆北部地区大地构造单元的划分,尽管从不同理论、不同专业角度进行了许多研究和论述,但也因对区内蛇绿岩的认识不同而仍存在诸多争议。本文针对以区内蛇绿岩形成时代来确定洋盆出现所存在的一些可变因素的阐述,提出在新疆北部地区于震旦纪-石炭纪期间可能只存在一个水域相通的统一大洋～准噶尔-天山洋的认识。并以此为基点,对新疆北部地区的构造单元进行了初步划分,划分出两个被动陆缘带和三个弧盆带,同时将其构造演化概括为陆壳拉张(Z—C)、洋盆形成(O-S)及洋盆消减(D—C)三个阶段。     

Accretion of oceanic crust under conditions of oblique spreading

The accretion of oceanic crust under conditions of oblique spreading is considered. It is shown that deviation of the normal to the strike of mid-ocean ridge from the extension direction results in the formation of echeloned basins and ranges in the rift valley, which are separated by normal and strike-slip faults oriented at an angle to the axis of the mid-ocean ridge. The orientation of spreading ranges is determined by initial breakup and divergence of plates, whereas the within-rift structural elements are local and shallow-seated; they are formed only in the tectonically mobile rift zone. As a rule, the mid-ocean ridges with oblique spreading are not displaced along transform fracture zones, and stresses are relaxed in accommodation zones without rupture of continuity of within-rift structural elements. The structural elements related to oblique spreading can be formed in both rift and megafault zones. At the initial breakup and divergence of continental or oceanic plates with increased crust thickness, the appearance of an extension component along with shear in megafault zones gives rise to the formation of embryonic accretionary structural elements. As opening and extension increase, oblique spreading zones are formed. Various destructive and accretionary structural elements (nearly parallel extension troughs; basin and range systems oriented obliquely relative to the strike of the fault zone and the extension axis; rhomb-shaped extension basins, etc.) can coexist in different segments of the fault zone and replace one another over time. The Andrew Bain Megafault Zone in the South Atlantic started to develop as a strike-slip fault zone that separated the African and Antarctic plates. Under extension in the oceanic domain, this zone was transformed into a system of strike-slip faults divided by accretionary structures. It is suggested that the De Geer Megafault Zone in the North Atlantic, which separated Greenland and Eurasia at the initial stage of extension that followed strike-slip offset, evolved in the same way.     

Tectonic provinces of the Atlantic Ocean

The tectonic structure of the floor of the Atlantic Ocean beyond the continental margins is insufficiently studied. This is also true of its tectonic demarcation. The segmentation of the floor into regional-scale tectonic provinces of several orders proposed in this paper is primarily based on structural and historical geological features. It is shown that deep oceanic basins and fault tectonics are of particular importance in this respect. Tectonic provinces of two orders are distinguished by a set of attributes. The first-order provinces are the North, Central, South, and Antarctic domains of the Atlantic Ocean. They are separated by wide demarcation fracture zones into Transatlantic (transverse) second-order tectonic provinces. Ten such provinces are recognized (from the north southward): Greenland-Lofoten, Greenland-Scandinavia, Greenland-Ireland, Newfoundland-European, North American-African, Antilles-African, Angola-Brazil, Cape-Argentine, North Antarctic, and South Antarctic. This subdivision demonstrates significant differentiation in the geodynamic state of the oceanic lithosphere that determines nonuniform ocean formation and the tectonic features of the ocean floor. The latitudinal orientation of the second-order provinces inherits the past tectonic pattern, though newly formed structural units cannot be ruled out. The Earth rotation exerts a crucial effect on the crust and the mantle.     

扬马延海脊构造-沉积演化及油气潜力

扬马延海脊位于北大西洋的北极圈附近,东格陵兰板块和挪威板块之间,冰岛东北方向。北极地区地域辽阔,油气资源丰富,但是恶劣的环境一直制约油气的勘探进展。在扬马延海脊的沉积演化过程中,扬马延海脊在第三纪前有着和东格陵兰陆架、挪威陆架相似的沉积序列,其构造演化经历了二叠纪陆内裂谷、三叠纪—侏罗纪同裂谷和微陆块漂移、白垩纪至今热沉降和被动陆缘等3个阶段。结合前人研究成果,对搜集的东格陵兰陆架、挪威陆架的油气地质资料分析,认为扬马延海脊可划分为扬马延盆地、扬马延西部构造带、扬马延中部凸起带、扬马延海槽、扬马延东部斜坡、扬马延南部复杂构造带6个构造单元,在其上发育着2套油气系统。同时扬马延海脊发育有伸展构造圈闭、地垒断块圈闭、构造圈闭和地层圈闭,这些圈闭为油气的赋存提供了良好的环境,也有利于划分有利油气勘探区带。研究结果可为进一步分析扬马延海脊构造特征等方面提供基础信息,同时对我国参与研究开发北极油气资源具有重大意义。     

Generations of spreading basins and stages of breakdown of Wegener’s Pangea in the geodynamic evolution of the Arctic Ocean

Chronological succession in the formation of spreading basins is considered in the context of reconstruction of breakdown of Wegener’s Pangea and the development of the geodynamic system of the Arctic Ocean. This study made it possible to indentify three temporally and spatially isolated generations of spreading basins: Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous, Late Cretaceous-Early Cenozoic, and Cenozoic. The first generation is determined by the formation, evolution, and extinction of the spreading center in the Canada Basin as a tectonic element of the Amerasia Basin. The second generation is connected to the development of the Labrador-Baffin-Makarov spreading branch that ceased to function in the Eocene. The third generation pertains to the formation of the spreading system of interrelated ultraslow Mohna, Knipovich, and Gakkel mid-ocean ridges that has functioned until now in the Norwegian-Greenland and Eurasia basins. The interpretation of the available geological and geophysical data shows that after the formation of the Canada Basin, the Arctic region escaped the geodynamic influence of the Paleopacific, characterized by spreading, subduction, formation of backarc basins, collision-related processes, etc. The origination of the Makarov Basin marks the onset of the oceanic regime characteristic of the North Atlantic (intercontinental rifting, slow and ultraslow spreading, separation of continental blocks (microcontinents), extinction of spreading centers of primary basins, spreading jumps, formation of young spreading ridges and centers, etc., are typical) along with retention of northward propagation of spreading systems both from the Pacific and Atlantic sides. The aforesaid indicates that the Arctic Ocean is in fact a hybrid basin or, in other words, a composite heterogeneous ocean in respect to its architectonics. The Arctic Ocean was formed as a result of spatial juxtaposition of two geodynamic systems different in age and geodynamic style: the Paleopacific system of the Canada Basin that finished its evolution in the Late Cretaceous and the North Atlantic system of the Makarov and Eurasia basins that came to take the place of the Paleopacific system. In contrast to traditional views, it has been suggested that asymmetry of the northern Norwegian-Greenland Basin is explained by two-stage development of this Atlantic segment with formation of primary and secondary spreading centers. The secondary spreading center of the Knipovich Ridge started to evolve approximately at the Oligocene-Miocene transition. This process resulted in the breaking off of the Hovgard continental block from the Barents Sea margin. Thus, the breakdown of Wegener’s Pangea and its Laurasian fragments with the formation of young spreading basins was a staged process that developed nearly from opposite sides. Before the Late Cretaceous (the first stage), the Pangea broke down from the side of Paleopacific to form the Canada Basin, an element of the Amerasia Basin (first phase of ocean formation). Since the Late Cretaceous, destructive pulses came from the side of the North Atlantic and resulted in the separation of Greenland from North America and the development of the Labrador-Baffin-Makarov spreading system (second phase of ocean formation). The Cenozoic was marked by the development of the second spreading branch and the formation of the Norwegian-Greenland and Eurasia oceanic basins (third phase of ocean formation). Spreading centers of this branch are functioning currently but at an extremely low rate.     

怒江、澜沧江、金沙江地区构造与成矿作用

据野外调查资料,将怒江、澜沧江、金沙江地区划为三个大的构造单元,即扬子板块西缘、印度板块北东缘和处于上两者之间的交接带或转换构造带。本文以大地构造格架为背景,结合成矿建造与构造变动的内在联系,在本区划出11个主要金属成矿带。追溯构造演化与成矿作用关系划出6大成矿阶段,即前特提斯阶段、古特提斯阶段、古特提斯碰撞阶段、碰撞后继阶段、中特提斯阶段及陆内强挤压阶段。其中以第四、第六两个成矿阶段最重要。本文还着重描述了构造运动形式及构造变形与成矿作用的关系,解剖了川西呷村含金富银多金属矿、藏东玉龙斑岩铜矿、滇西金顶铅锌矿、哀牢山带金矿等大型典型矿产形成的构造地质背景。     

Palaeomagnetic and structural constraints on 90° anticlockwise rotation in SW Mongolia during the Permo–Triassic: Implications for Altaid oroclinal bending. Preliminary palaeomagnetic results

New and published paleomagnetic measurements from Trans Altai and South Gobi zones in south Mongolia document large tectonic motions in between Late Carboniferous and Triassic. Magnetic inclinations confirm equatorial position of south Mongolian terranes in Late Carboniferous–Permian times. The evolution of magnetic declinations indicates 90° anticlockwise rotation in between latest Carboniferous and Early Triassic of all studied tectonic units around the Eulerian pole located close to axis of Mongolian orocline. The anticlockwise rotation continues in Triassic being accompanied by a major drift to the north. The structural and published geochronological data suggest Carboniferous E–W shortening of the whole region resulting in N–S trend of all continental and oceanic geological units followed by orthogonal N–S shortening during Late Permian to Early Jurassic. Both paleomagnetic and geological data converge in a tectonic model of oroclinal bending of Mongolian ribbon continent, westerly back arc oceanic domain and Mongol–Okhotsk subduction zone to the east. The oroclinal bending model is consistent with the coincidence of the Eulerian pole of rotation with the structural axis of Mongolian orocline. In addition, the Mesozoic collisional tectonics is reflected by late remagnetizations due to formation of wide deformation fronts and hydrothermal activity.     

Seamounts in the east of South Atlantic: Origin and correlation with Mesozoic-Cenozoic magmatic structures of West Africa

The Mesozoic and Cenozoic seamounts and submarine ridges in the east of the South Atlantic are considered and compared with the coeval tectonomagmatic structures of West Africa. The conclusion is drawn that within-plate magmatism of the Atlantic is a waning process related to the ascent of several large plumes beneath West Africa beginning from the Triassic and subsequent lateral spreading of their material. It is shown that the heated plume material can spread beneath the lithosphere for a great distance, mixing in various proportions with asthenospheric matter, forming melts variable in geochemistry and isotopic characteristics. Cooling of the material takes many tens of years with retention of small magma sources episodically supplying melts to the surface. Localization of permeable zones in the lithosphere, along which the melts ascend, is determined by global stress fields responsible for the formation of long-lived linear tectonic elements on continents, inherited by young oceanic tectonic lines.     

The information content of gravity and magnetic data for a survey of the structure and evolution of the tectonosphere of the South Atlantic region

The evolution of the American-Antarctic spreading system is a part of the common evolution of the South Atlantic. Structural analysis that was performed by the authors across the South Atlantic region shows that not only valuable information about the tectonosphere structure but useful complementary information can be obtained on its basis. This information improves the reliability of the interpretation of the physical, tectonic, and geological processes that are taking place within the evolution of the tectonic provinces and regions according to the reconstruction model. The results of the structural analysis, together with reconstructions of the South Atlantic, allowed us to connect them with the evolution of the region and define the place of the American-Antarctic ridge spreading system in the evolution of the South Atlantic Ocean, as well as its interaction with adjacent tectonic structures.     

Passive margins of the North and Central Atlantic: A comparative study

The main features of the volcanic and nonvolcanic passive margins of the North and Central Atlantic are considered. The margins are compared using rather well-studied reference tectonotypes as examples. The conjugate margins of the Norwegian-Greenland region and the margins of West Iberia and Newfoundland are chosen as tectonotypes of volcanic and nonvolcanic margins, respectively. The structural and magmatic features of the margins and their preceding history are discussed. A complex of interrelated attributes is shown for each tectonotype. The Norwegian-Greenland region close to the Iceland plume is distinguished by narrow zones of stretched continental crust, rapid localization of stretching with breakup of the continent, a high rate of subsequent spreading, and intense magmatism with the formation of a thick new crust at the margin and the adjacent oceanic zone. The Iberia-Newfoundland region, remote from the plumes, is characterized by wide zones of stretched continental crust, long-term and diachronous prebreakup extension propagating northward, extremely restricted mantle melting during rifting and initial spreading, and frequent occurrence of ancient crustal complexes and serpentinized mantle rocks at the margin. Crustal faults and a thin tectonized oceanic crust appear along the margin under conditions of slow spreading. A model of hot and fast spreading with a high degree of melting in the mantle is applicable to the Norwegian-Greenland region, whereas a model of cold and slow amagmatic rifting with a long pre-breakup stretching and thinning of the lithosphere is appropriate to the Iberia-Newfoundland margins. The differences in the development of the margins is determined by the interaction of many factors: deep temperature, rheology of the underlying lithosphere, heterogeneities in the previously formed crust, and the duration and rate of stretching. All of these factors can be related to the effect of deep plumes and propagation of the extension zone toward the segments of the cold Atlantic lithosphere. Both types of margins also reveal similar features, in particular asymmetry. It is suggested that the rotation forces superimposed on the general tectonomagmatic pattern controlled by plumes could have been the cause of structural asymmetry.     

Basic tectonic features of the Knipovich Ridge (North Atlantic) and its neotectonic evolution

The geological and geophysical data primarily on the structure of the upper sedimentary sequence of the northern Knipovich Ridge (Norwegian-Greenland Basin) that were obtained during Cruise 24 of the R/V Akademik Nikolai Strakhov are considered. These data indicate that the recent kinematics of the northern Knipovich Ridge is determined by dextral strike-slip displacements along the Molloy Fracture Zone (315° NW). This stress field is superimposed by a system related to rifting and latitudinal opening of rifts belonging to the ridge proper. Thus, the structural elements formed under the effect of two stress fields are combined in this district. Several stages of tectonic movements are definable. The first stage (prior to 500 ka ago) is marked by the dominant normal faults, which are overlain by the lower and upper sedimentary sequences. The second stage (prior to 120–100 ka ago) is characterized by development of normal and reverse faults, which displace the lower sequence and are overlain by the upper sequence. Both younger and older structural features reveal peaks of tectonic activity separated by intermediate quiet periods 50–60 ka long. The stress field of the regional strike-slip faulting is realized in numerous oblique NE-trending normal and normal-strike-slip faults that divide the rift valley and its walls into the segments of different sizes. Their strike (20°–30° NE) is consistent with a system of secondary antithetic sinistral strike-slip faults. The system of depressions located 40 km west of the rift valley axis may be considered a paleorift zone that is conjugated at 78°07′ N and 5°20′ W with the NW-trending fault marked by the main dextral offset. The stress field that existed at this stage was identical to the recent one. The rift valley axis migrated eastward to its present-day position approximately 2 Ma ago (if the spreading rate of ～0.7 cm/yr is accepted). The obtained data substantially refine the understanding of the initial breakup of continents with the formation of oceanic structural elements. The neotectonic stage is characterized by combination of different stress fields that resulted in the formation of a complex system of tectonic structural units, including those located beyond the recent extension zone along the rift axis of the Knipovich Ridge. The tectonic deformations occurred throughout the neotectonic stage as discrete recurrent events.     

论菲律宾海板块大地构造分区

菲律宾海板块是毗邻中国大陆的一个独特的小型板块。除南端表现十分复杂外,它的构造边界多以海沟为界,比较清楚,然而次级大地构造单元划分则比较复杂。本文根据近年来的研究成果,按照块体构造理论注重统一的地球物理场、相似的地壳结构、有机的成因联系等3个基本原则,将菲律宾海板块划分为3个具有不同构造演化特征的单元,即西菲律宾海块体、四国-帕里西维拉块体和伊豆-博宁-马里亚纳块体。西菲律宾海块体包括两部分:一个是西菲律宾海盆,始新世以来受太平洋板块和印澳板块近南北向的相对俯冲作用影响,并顺时针旋转形成了现今的构造样式,于30 Ma左右停止扩张。另一个包括大东盆岭、花东盆地、帕劳海盆和吕宋岛弧蛇绿岩等洋壳在内的白垩纪洋盆。根据形成年代和形成时的扩张方向可将四国-帕里西维拉块体分为两部分:四国海盆和帕里西维拉海盆,两者以索夫干断裂为界。伊豆-博宁-马里亚纳块体沿博宁高原南缘分为南北两部分,两者表现出不同的地质特征。     

Propagating rift tectonics of a Caledonian marginal basin: Multi-stage seafloor spreading history of the Solund-Stavfjord ophiolite in western Norway

The Late Ordovician Solund-Stavfjord ophiolite in western Norway represents a remnant of the Iapetus oceanic lithosphere that developed in a Caledonian marginal basin. The ophiolite contains three structural domains that display distinctively different crustal architecture that reflects the mode and nature of magmatic and tectonic processes operated during the multi-stage seafloor spreading evolution of this marginal basin. Domain I includes, from top to bottom, an extensive extrusive sequence, a transition zone consisting of dike swarms with screens of pillow breccias, a sheeted dike complex, and plutonic rocks composed mainly of isotropic gabbro and microgabbro. Extrusive rocks include pillow lavas, pillow breccias, and massive sheet flows and are locally sheared and mineralized, containing epidosites, sulfide-sulfate deposits, Fe-oxides, and anhydrite veins, reminiscent of hydrothermal alteration zones on the seafloor along modern mid-ocean ridges. A fossil lava lake in the northern part of the ophiolite consists of a >65-m-thick volcanic sequence composed of a number of separate massive lava units interlayered with pillow lavas and pillow breccia horizons. The NE-trending sheeted dike complex contains multiple intrusions of metabasaltic dikes with one- and two-sided chilled margins and displays a network of both dike-parallel normal and dike-perpendicular oblique-slip faults of oceanic origin. The dike-gabbro boundary is mutually intrusive and represents the root zone of the sheeted dike complex. The internal architecture and rock types of Domain I are analogous to those of intermediate-spreading oceanic crust at modern mid-ocean ridge environments. The ophiolitic units in Domain II include mainly sheeted dikes and plutonic rocks with a general NW structural grain and are commonly faulted against each other, although primary intrusive relations between the sheeted dikes and the gabbros are locally well preserved. The exposures of this domain occur only in the northern and southern parts of the ophiolite complex and are separated by the ENE-trending Domain III, in which isotropic to pegmatitic gabbros and dike swarms are plastically deformed along ENE-striking sinistral shear zones. These shear zones, which locally include fault slivers of serpentinite intrusions, are crosscut by N20°E-striking undeformed basaltic dike swarms that contain xenoliths of gabbroic material. The NW-trending sheeted dike complex in the northern part of Domain II curves into an ENE orientation approaching Domain III in the south. The anomalous nature of deformed crust in Domain III is interpreted to have developed within an oceanic fracture zone or transform fault boundary.REE chemistry of representative extrusive and dike rocks from all three domains indicates N- to E-MORB affinities of their magmas with high Th/Ta ratios that are characteristic of subduction zone environments. The magmatic evolution of Domain I encompasses closed-system fractional crystallization of high-Mg basaltic magmas in small ephemeral chambers, which gradually interconnected to form large chambers in which mixing of primary magmas with more evolved and fractionated magma caused resetting of magma compositions through time. The compositional range from high-Mg basalts to ferrobasalts within Domain I is reminiscent of modern propagating rift basalts. We interpret the NE-trending Domain I as a remnant of an intermediate-spread rift system that propagated northeastwards (in present coordinate system) into a pre-existing oceanic crust, which was developed along the NW-trending doomed rift (Domain II) in the marginal basin. The N20°E dikes laterally intruding into the anomalous oceanic crust in Domain III represent the tip of the rift propagator. The inferred propagating rift tectonics of the Solund-Stavfjord ophiolite is similar to the evolutionary history of the modern Lau back-arc basin in the SW Pacific and suggests a complex magmatic evolution of the Caledonian marginal basin via multi-stage seafloor spreading tectonics.     

Structure and tectonic evolution of the Southern Eurasia Basin, Arctic Ocean

Multichannel seismic reflection data acquired by Marine Arctic Geological Expedition (MAGE) of Murmansk, Russia in 1990 provide the first view of the geological structure of the Arctic region between 77–80°N and 115–133°E, where the Eurasia Basin of the Arctic Ocean adjoins the passive-transform continental margin of the Laptev Sea. South of 80°N, the oceanic basement of the Eurasia Basin and continental basement of the Laptev Sea outer margin are covered by 1.5 to 8 km of sediments. Two structural sequences are distinguished in the sedimentary cover within the Laptev Sea outer margin and at the continent/ocean crust transition: the lower rift sequence, including mostly Upper Cretaceous to Lower Paleocene deposits, and the upper post-rift sequence, consisting of Cenozoic sediments. In the adjoining Eurasia Basin of the Arctic Ocean, the Cenozoic post-rift sequence consists of a few sedimentary successions deposited by several submarine fans. Based on the multichannel seismic reflection data, the structural pattern was determined and an isopach map of the sedimentary cover and tectonic zoning map were constructed. A location of the continent/ocean crust transition is tentatively defined. A buried continuation of the mid-ocean Gakkel Ridge is also detected. This study suggests that south of 78.5°N there was the cessation in the tectonic activity of the Gakkel Ridge Rift from 33–30 until 3–1 Ma and there was no sea-floor spreading in the southernmost part of the Eurasia Basin during the last 30–33 m.y. South of 78.5°N all oceanic crust of the Eurasia Basin near the continental margin of the Laptev Sea was formed from 56 to 33–30 Ma.     

Modern volcanism in the Earth’s northern hemisphere and its relations with the evolution of the North Pangaea modern supercontinent and with the spatial distribution of hotspots on the Earth: The hypothesis of relations between mantle plumes and deep subduction

The paper reports results of the analysis of the spatial distribution of modern (younger than 2 Ma) volcanism in the Earth’s northern hemisphere and relations between this volcanism and the evolution of the North Pangaea modern supercontinent and with the spatial distribution of hotspots of the Earth’s mantle. Products of modern volcanism occur in the Earth’s northern hemisphere in Eurasia, North America, Greenland, in the Atlantic Ocean, Arctic, Africa, and the Pacific Ocean. As anywhere worldwide, volcanism in the northern hemisphere of the Earth occurs as (a) volcanism of mid-oceanic ridges (MOR), (b) subduction-related volcanism in island arcs and active continental margins (IA and ACM), (c) volcanism in continental collision (CC) zones, and (d) within-plate (WP) volcanism, which is related to mantle hotspots, continental rifts, and intercontinental belts. These types of volcanic areas are fairly often neighboring, and then mixed volcanic areas occur with the persistent participation of WP volcanism. Correspondingly, modern volcanism in the Earth’s northern hemisphere is of both oceanic and continental nature. The latter is obviously related to the evolution of the North Pangaea modern supercontinent, because it results from the Meso-Cenozoic evolution of Wegener’s Late Paleozoic Pangaea. North Pangaea in the Cenozoic comprises Eurasia, North and South America, India, and Africa and has, similar to other supercontinents, large sizes and a predominantly continental crust. The geodynamic setting and modern volcanism of North Pangaea are controlled by two differently acting processes: the subduction of lithospheric slabs from the Pacific Ocean, India, and the Arabia, a process leading to the consolidation of North Pangaea, and the spreading of oceanic plates on the side of the Atlantic Ocean, a process that “wedges” the supercontinent, modifies its morphology (compared to that of Wegener’s Pangaea), and results in the intervention of the Atlantic geodynamic regime into the Arctic. The long-lasting (for >200 Ma) preservation of tectonic stability and the supercontinental status of North Pangaea are controlled by subduction processes along its boundaries according to the predominant global compression environment. The long-lasting and stable subduction of lithospheric slabs beneath Eurasia and North America not only facilitated active IA + ACM volcanism but also resulted in the accumulation of cold lithospheric material in the deep mantle of the region. The latter replaced the hot mantle and forced this material toward the margins of the supercontinent; this material then ascended in the form of mantle plumes (which served as sources of WP basite magmas), which are diverging branches of global mantle convection, and ascending flows of subordinate convective systems at the convergent boundaries of plates. Subduction processes (compressional environments) likely suppressed the activity of mantle plumes, which acted in the northern polar region of the Earth (including the Siberian trap magmatism) starting at the latest Triassic until nowadays and periodically ascended to the Earth’s surface and gave rise to WP volcanism. Starting at the breakup time of Wegener’s Pangaea, which began with the opening of the central Atlantic and systematically propagated toward the Arctic, marine basins were formed in the place of the Arctic Ocean. However, the development of the oceanic crust (Eurasian basin) took place in the latter as late as the Cenozoic. Before the appearance of the Gakkel Ridge and, perhaps, also the oceanic portion of the Amerasian basin, this young ocean is thought to have been a typical basin developing in the central part of supercontinents. Wegener’s Pangaea broke up under the effect of mantle plumes that developed during their systematic propagation to the north and south of the Central Atlantic toward the North Pole. These mantle plumes were formed in relation with the development of global and local mantle convection systems, when hot deep mantle material was forced upward by cold subducted slabs, which descended down to the core-mantle boundary. The plume (WP) magmatism of Eurasia and North America was associated with surface collision- or subduction-related magmatism and, in the Atlantic and Arctic, also with surface spreading-related magmatism (tholeiite basalts).     

Structural and geochronological relationships of metamorphic soles of eastern Mediterrranean ophiolites to surrounding units: indicators of intra‐oceanic subduction and emplacement

This paper is a synthesis of structural and geochronological data from eastern Mediterranean ophiolitic metamorphic rocks and surrounding units to interpret the intra‐oceanic subduction and ophiolite emplacement mechanism.

Metamorphic rocks occur as discontinuous tectonic slices at the base of the ophiolites, generally between the peridotite tectonites and volcanic‐sedimentary units, and locally in fault zones in the overlying peridotites. They consist essentially of amphibolite, and in lesser quantities, micaschist, quartzite, epidotite and marble.

Geological and geochronological data indicate that recrystallization of the metamorphic rocks occurred in the oceanic environment. The contact between the metamorphic rocks and the hanging‐wall is parallel to the foliation of the metamorphic rocks, and is interpreted as the fossil plane of intra‐oceanic subduction. Structural relationships suggest that intra‐oceanic subduction was situated between two lithospheric blocks separated by an oceanic fracture zone. Therefore the Neotethyan ophiolites with metamorphic soles represent the remnants of the overriding oceanic lithosphere's training slices of the metamorphic rocks at the base.

In the Anatolian region, radiometric dating of metamorphic rocks from the Taurus and Izmir‐Ankara‐Erzincan zone ophiolites yield nearly identical ages. Besides, palaeontological and structural data indicate coeval opening and similar oceanic ridge orientation. Consequently it is highly probable that Taurus and Izmir‐Ankara‐Erzincan zone ophiolites represent fragments of the same oceanic lithosphere derived from a single spreading zone. Palaeontological data from underlying volcanic and sedimentary units point out that the opening of the Neotethyan ocean occurred during Late Permian‐Middle Triassic time in the Iranian‐Oman region, during Middle Triassic in Dinaro‐Hellenic area, and finally during Late Triassic in the Anatolian region.

Radiometric dating of the metamorphic rocks exhibit that the intra‐oceanic thrusting occurred during late Lower‐early Late Jurassic for Dinaro‐Hellenic ophiolites, late Lower‐early Late Cretaceous for Anatolian, Iranian and Oman ophiolites well before their obduction on the Gondwanian continent. Neotethyan ophiolites were obducted onto various sections of the Gondwanian continent from late Upper Jurassic to Palaeocene time, Dinaro‐Hellenic ophiolites during late Upper Jurassic‐early Lower Cretaceous onto the Adriatic promontory, Anatolian, Iranian and Oman ophiolites from late Lower Cretaceous to Palaeocene onto the Aegean, Anatolian and Arabic promontories.     

菲律宾海四国海盆地壳结构重力反演及其形成演化过程分析

四国海盆是位于菲律宾海板块内由岛弧张裂形成的弧后盆地,其深部地壳结构对认识伊豆小笠原岛弧的裂解和弧后盆地的扩张过程有重要的意义.在反射多道地震剖面和深部海底地震（OBS）探测剖面的约束下,结合磁异常条带数据,利用两条横穿四国海盆的重力测线数据对海盆的地壳物性结构反演,对比重力反演剖面与深部探测剖面地壳厚度和密度特征,得到更加精细的四国海盆地壳结构.研究结果显示,四国海盆洋壳厚度自西向东逐渐增厚,在残留扩张脊处莫霍面深度迅速增加.根据地壳密度和厚度将四国海盆分为:洋壳减薄区、洋壳增厚区、后扩张洋壳增生区,分别对应初始慢速张裂、单翼快速扩张、对称慢速扩张3期扩张活动.南北测线不同构造分区得到的扩张速率与由磁异常条带得到扩张速率相同;洋壳减薄区下地壳均有高密度体,与OBS剖面中下地壳高速体相对应,可能是由于洋壳慢速扩张过程中强烈拆离作用,地幔蛇纹石化导致.      

The Ligurian Units of Western Tuscany (Northern Apennines): insight on the influence of pre-existing weakness zones during ocean closure

Most of the tectonic units cropping out in Western Tuscany are fragments of the Jurassic oceanic crust, ophiolitic successions, overlaid diachronously by Upper Cretaceous-middle Eocene carbonate and siliciclastic flysch successions with their Cenomanian-lower Eocene shalycalcareous basal complexes. These units, so called Ligurian, have been emplaced during the closure of the Ligurian-Piedmont Ocean. Ophiolite bearing debris flows are common in the flysch basins and their relationship with ophiolitic tectonic slices points to a strong relation between tectonics and sedimentation from the early compressive events of the Late Cretaceous. The tectonic activity reflects in a rough morphology of the ocean floor. It progressively influences the distribution and sedimentology of the turbidites. During middle Eocene this relationship begun very important and a paleogeographic reconstruction with prominent linear ophiolitic reliefs that bounded some turbiditic basins can be done. In our reconstruction the sedimentary and structural evolution can be framed in the context of strain partitioning, developed during the ocean closure, between subduction processes and ancient weakness zones crosscutting both the ocean and the Adria continental margin and reactivated in compressive regime. These weakness zones can be interpreted as transform faults of the Ligurian-Piedmont Ocean with prolongations in the Adria passive margin.

The weakness zones crosscut the oceanic lithosphere and the Adria continental margin and interfered with the subduction processes. The activity of the weakness zones is reflected in the Ligurian Units architecture where two main structural strike trends of thrusts and folds axial planes occur. The first trend is WSW-ENE oriented and it is connected with the reactivation of the weaknesses zones. This first orientation developed progressively from Late Cretaceous to Pliocene, from oceanic to ensialic convergence (D1, D2, and D4 deformation phases). The second trend is NNE-SSW oriented and is related to the late Eocene continental collision and the subsequent translation to the NE of the oceanic units onto the Adria continental margin (D3 deformation phase).