Episodic Cenozoic volcanism and tectonism in the Andes of Peru

Radiometric and geologic information indicate a complex history of Cenozoic volcanism and tectonism in the central Andes. K-Ar ages on silicic pyroclastic rocks demonstrate major volcanic activity in central and southern Peru, northern Chile, and adjacent areas during the Early and Middle Miocene, and provide additional evidence for volcanism during the Late Eocene. A provisional outline of tectonic and volcanic events in the Peruvian Andes during the Cenozoic includes: one or more pulses of igneous activity and intense deformation during the Paleocene and Eocene; a period of quiescence, lasting most of Oligocene time; reinception of tectonism and volcanism at the beginning of the Miocene; and a major pulse of deformation in the Middle Miocene accompanied and followed through the Pliocene by intense volcanism and plutonism. Reinception of igneous activity and tectonism at about the Oligocene-Miocene boundary, a feature recognized in other circum-Pacific regions, may reflect an increase in the rate of rotation of the Pacific plate relative to fixed or quasifixed mantle coordinates. Middle Miocene tectonism and latest Tertiary volcanism correlates with and probably is genetically related to the beginning of very rapid spreading at the East Pacific Rise.     

Seismic codas on the Earth and the Moon: a comparison

The phenomenon of the seismic coda, which is composed of seismic energy delayed by scattering, is seen on both the Earth and the Moon. On the Moon the scattered coda is very large relative to body wave arrivals with a delay of the time of maximum energy, whereas on Earth scattered codas are relatively small and show no delay of the energy maximum. In both cases the form of the coda is controlled by three distance scales, the mean free path L, which is the average distance seismic energy travels before it is scattered, the attenuation distance $\text{x1}$, which is the average distance seismic energy travels before it is attenuated, and the source-receiver distance R. Two coda models are discussed based on these parameters; a strong scattering (diffusion) model, and a weak scattering (single scattering) model. A discussion of the diffusion scattering model indicates that if $\text{x1/L ? 1}$, diffusion scattering is an appropriate model, but if $\text{x1/L ? 1}$, single scattering is the appropriate model, within the appropriate range of R. A survey of the literature indicates that for the frequency range 0.5–10 Hz, diffusion scattering is important in lunar codas, but for the frequency range 1–25 Hz single scattering is important in terrestrial codas. Another important effect of attenuation is the elimination of scattering paths much longer than $\text{x1}$. On the Moon, this means that seismic energy in the coda can only propagate directly in the near-surface strong scattering zone between surface sources and the seismometer for source-seismometer separations of the order of $\text{(x1L)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$; otherwise, scattering is limited to regions near the source and the receiver. On Earth, this effect probably prevents multiple scattering.     

Far-field tectonics associated with a large impact basin: applications to Caloris on Mercury and Imbrium on the Moon

Lithospheric readjustments after the formation of a large impact crater have been computed. The models predict tectonic perturbations over a major portion of the surface of the planet. The weight of the ejecta and the mechanical perturbations in the crater area give rise to membrane stresses. If the planetary lithosphere is in compression, the direction of maximum compression after the impact is perpendicular to a meridian (in a referential where the basin would be at the North pole). On Mercury the preferential orientation of compressive scarps radial to Caloris is explained in this manner. For a planet in extension grabens perpendicular and parallel to a meridian can appear successively as the mechanical state of the crater area is modified. On the Moon this result is consistent with the large-scale tectonics associated with Imbrium.     

Global electromagnetic induction in the Moon and planets

A summary of experiments and analyses concerning electromagnetic induction in the Moon and other extraterrestrial bodies is presented. Magnetic step-transient measurements made on the lunar dark side show the eddy current response to be the dominant induction mode of the Moon. Analysis of the poloidal field decay of the eddy currents has yielded a range of monotonic conductivity profiles for the lunar interior: the conductivity rises from 3·10^?4 mho/m at a depth of 170 km to 10^?2 mho/m at 1000 km depth. The static magnetization field induction has been measured and the whole-Moon relative magnetic permeability has been calculated to be $\text{μ}\text{μ}{}_0\text{= 1.01 ± 0.06}$. The remanent magnetic fields, measured at Apollo landing sites, range from 3 to 327 γ. Simultaneous magnetometer and solar wind spectrometer measurements show that the 38-γ remanent field at the Apollo 12 site is compressed to 54 γ by a solar wind pressure increase of 7·10^?8 dyn/cm². The solar wind confines the induced lunar poloidal field; the field is compressed to the surface on the lunar subsolar side and extends out into a cylindrical cavity on the lunar antisolar side. This solar wind confinement is modeled in the laboratory by a magnetic dipole enclosed in a superconducting lead cylinder; results show that the induced poloidal field geometry is modified in a manner similar to that measured on the Moon. Induction concepts developed for the Moon are extended to estimate the electromagnetic response of other bodies in the solar system.     

New age constraints on the timing of volcanism and tectonism in the northern Main Ethiopian Rift–southern Afar transition zone (Ethiopia)

Forty new K-Ar and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar isotopic ages from the northern Main Ethiopian Rift (MER)–southern Afar transition zone provide insights into the volcano-tectonic evolution of this portion of the East African Rift system. The earliest evidence of volcanic activity in this region is manifest as 24–23 Ma pre-rift flood basalts. Transition zone flood basalt activity renewed at approximately 10 Ma, and preceded the initiation of modern rift margin development. Bimodal basalt–rhyolite volcanism in the southern Afar rift floor began at approximately 7 Ma and continued into Recent times. In contrast, post-subsidence volcanic activity in the northern MER is dominated by Mio-Pliocene silicic products from centers now covered by Quaternary volcanic and sedimentary lithologies. Unlike other parts of the MER, Mio-Pliocene silicic volcanism in the MER–Afar transition zone is closely associated with fissural basaltic products. The presence of Pliocene age ignimbrites on the plateaus bounding the northern MER, whose sources are found in the present rift, indicates that subsidence of this region was gradual, and that it attained its present physiography with steep escarpments only in the Plio-Pleistocene. Large 7–5 Ma silicic centers along the southern Afar and northeastern MER margins apparently formed along an E–W-oriented regional structural feature parallel to the already established southern escarpment of the Afar. The Addis Ababa rift embayment and the growth of 4.5–3 Ma silicic centers in the Addis Ababa area are attributed to the formation of a major cross-rift structure and its intersection with the same regional E–W structural trend. This study illustrates the episodic nature of rift development and volcanic activity in the MER–Afar transition zone, and the link between this activity and regional structural and tectonic features.     

The relationship between glaciation and volcanism: Numerical simulation and the Holocene volcanism in Kamchatka

This study is concerned with numerical simulation of the strain due to glaciation and glacial melting, when a magma zone (a layer containing inclusions of magma and magma cumulates) is present at the crust–mantle boundary. According to analytical solutions of this problem that involves viscous relaxation of an uncompensated depression at the place of the molten glacier, the depth to the zone of increased shear stresses beneath the depression is proportional to its width, while the relaxation duration is proportional to viscosity of the lithosphere and is a few thousand years. These fundamental estimates are corroborated by our numerical simulation. According to it, the magma zone at the Moho boundary shields the zone of increased shear stresses, limiting it from below. The maximum values (12–25 MPa) with glacial thickness 500–1000 m are reached at the top of this layer of low viscosity. The directions of maximum compression (s₁) as calculated for the time after the melting indicate that the magma that rises along dikes is displaced from the center of the magma lens toward its periphery. It is found that glacial unloading makes the dipping faults in the crust above the low-viscosity layer attractors for the rising magma. Glacial unloading accelerates, by factors of a few times, the magma generation in the mantle that occurs following the mechanism of adiabatic decompression, as well as facilitating the accumulation of mantle fluids in the zone of increased shear stresses at the boundary of the low viscosity layer. The magma traverses this deep fluid collector and increases the intensity and explosivity of eruptions at the beginning of an interglacial period. Our numerical simulation results are in general agreement with published data on Early Holocene volcanic eruptions that occurred after the second phase of the Late Pleistocene glaciation in Kamchatka.     

Next stop: the Moon

Andrew J Ball, Sarah K Dunkin and David J Heather report on optimistic and innovative ideas raised at the Fourth International Conference on Exploration and Utilisation of the Moon, which resulted in a declaration reviewing the current state of lunar exploration and setting targets for future work.     

Palaeomagnetism and the Deccan Trap volcanism

The results of palacomagnetic studies made on the Deccan Traps by various workers are reviewed in the light of the recent palaeomagnetic data on these rocks and the general geological information. It is suggested that: (a) the earlier altitude-polarity classification of the Deccan Traps, suggesting that the flows below the general elevation of 2000±200 feet above mean sea level are of reversed magnetic polarity while those above this horizon are normal, is not without exceptions; (b) the geomagnetic field reversed its polarity several times during the eruption of these lavas; (c) the Deccan Trap eruptions probably consisted of several phases of volcanicity over a protracted period; and (d) the phases of Deccan Trap volcanism, the phases of Himalayan upheaval, and the northward drift of the Indian landmass were rather concrescent events.     

Acid volcanism on the south Arabian coast

Along the south coast of Arabia, between Aden and the southern entrance to the Red Sea, there are six central vent volcanoes of probable Pliocene age. All are characterised by the interstratification of basic and acidic extrusives, the formation of large central calderas at a late stage in the volcanic cycle and the subsequent infilling of these calderas with horizontal acidic ignimbrites and basic lavas. Lying 60 miles to the west of Aden and of particular interest is Jebel Khariz, the largest and best preserved of the six volcanic centres, covering a roughly circular area of about 100 square miles and rising to a height of 2,766 feet. The volcanic sequence of Jebel Khariz is broadly divisible into two suites: a) alkali-rich rhyolites and trachytes which occur as flows and pyroclastic horizons and form about 80 per cent of the volume of the cone, and b) effusives of basaltic composition that occur in the caldera, locally on the south-east and south-west flanks and in a small parasitic cone on the northern flank. The alkali-rich acidic suite includes lavas, ash-flow and ash-fall rocks as well as vent and flow breccias, Generally, all rocks of this suite have phenocrysts of anorthoclase, and may contain phenocrysts of fayalitic olivine, aegirine-augite, magnetite and/or quartz. The fine grained matrix is composed of the same minerals with skeletal riebeckite and, in some cases, cossyrite. The basaltic suite is characteristically porphyritic, the phenocrysts being of calcic plagioclase, clinopyroxene, olivine and magnetite in a fine-grained mesostasis of plagioclase, olivine, clinopyroxene and ore. The plagioclase, on initial investigation, appears to lie in the labradorite-bytownite range, the olivine is commonly replaced by iddingsite and the clinopyroxene is most commonly a pale mauve titanaugite. Near the centre of the volcanic pile, as exposed in the caldera wall, masses of rhyolitic composition can be seen to form over half of the volcanic sequence. These masses are markedly lenzoid in cross-section normal to the flow direction and display intricate flow folding; they are considered to have been extruded as viscous lava. Further from the volcanic centre, these acidic extrusives become less markedly lenzoid until in the distal areas of individual units, some 5 miles from the caldera, they have spread out to form sheet-like masses covering as much as 10 square miles to a uniform thickness rarely exceeding 25 feet. The presence of agglomeratic bases, hard compact central sections and less compact upper divisions, together with the ubiquitous presence of columnar jointing and occasional shard textures suggest that these distal parts of each extrusive unit have been formed by an ash-flow/ash-fall mechanism. It is postulated that the majority of the Jebel Khariz volcanic pile was formed by emission of acidic material, effusive in the central area, but deposited mainly by an ash-flow mechanism around the flanks of the cone. This could be due to either the synchronous eruption of viscous lava from the central vent with ash flow eruptions on the flanks; or, more probably, to the progression of an individual volcanic episode through an initial ash-flow phase followed by the effusion of viscous lava, all emanating from the central vent.     

The relationship between calc-alkaline volcanism and within-plate continental rift volcanism: evidence from Scottish Palaeozoic lavas

Lower Carboniferous lavas from the Midland Valley and adjacent regions of Scotland are mildly alkaline and intraplate in nature. The sequence is dominated by basalt and hawaiite, although mugearite, benmoreite, trachyte and rhyolite are also present. Basic volcanic rocks display the LIL element and LREE enrichment typical of intraplate alkali basalt terrains. Low initial⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr (0.7029–0.7046), high ε_Nd (−0.4 to +5.6) and moderately radiogenic²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb (17.77–18.89) ratios are also comparable with alkali basalts from other continental rifts and oceanic islands.When the Carboniferous lavas are compared with subduction-related lavas of Old Red Sandstone age, erupted in and around the Midland Valley ca. 50 Ma earlier (at 410 Ma) remarkable similarities are apparent. Significant overlap occurs in Nd and Pb isotopic compositions. Sr isotopic compositions are, however, more radiogenic in the older subduction-related lavas. This, combined with high K and Rb concentrations in ORS lavas may be explained by the incorporation of a sediment component derived from the subducted slab, which by Lower Carboniferous times had been lost from the mantle source region by convection. A pronounced negative Nb anomaly in the ORS subduction-related lavas may be explained by the retention of a Nb-bearing phase in the mantle during hydrous melting of the mantle wedge above the subduction zone.Allowing for the effects of the added component from the subducted slab, there appears to be no necessity to invoke separate mantle source regions for the two suites of lavas: both may have been derived from chemically similar portions of mantle. If volcanic arc lavas are derived from the mantle wedge, the implication is that such a source lies at relatively shallow depth within the upper mantle: the same may therefore apply to the Carboniferous continental rift basalts. This evidence, combined with the fact that there is no evident hot-spot trail across the Midland Valley despite a long period of within-plate volcanism and rapid plate movements during the Carboniferous, suggests that the alkali basalt magmatism is not the product of a deep-seated mantle plume. Rather, the volcanism appears to owe more to passive rifting and to diapiric upwelling from a source region within the uppermost mantle.     

Exploring the Moon: a UK perspective

Ian Crawford, Mahesh Anand, Andrew Ball and Katherine Joy report on a UK community meeting on lunar exploration, held at the Open University on 24 and 25 September 2007.     

火山区基本压力源模型及应用

通过简要介绍火山区不同压力源模型引起的垂直形变与水平形变特征,总结不同模型引起的最大水平位移与最大垂直位移的比值R,得到膨胀模型产生的地表形变多以中心为对称,R小于0.5;腔状模型产生的地表形变多为轴对称,可得到更高的R比值;这些结论为模拟分析火山区压力源参数选用模型时提供依据.最后利用所得结果,分析了长白山天池火山可...     

Age of shield-building volcanism of Kauai and linear migration of volcanism in the Hawaiian island chain

Tholeiitic basalts of the Napali Formation comprise the bulk of the Kauai shield volcano. Potassium-argon ages measured on 16 samples from three separate areas in this formation lie in the range 5.14 ± 0.20 to 3.81 ± 0.06 m.y. The scatter in the measured ages in each area is greater than that expected from experimental error alone, and variable loss of radiogenic argon is regarded as at least partly responsible. Nevertheless an interval of eruption in the order of 0.8 m.y. is deduced for the Napali Formation. The results from the Napali Formation taken together with K-Ar ages measured earlier on basalts of the Makaweli Formation, the youngest formation of the dome-building phase, yield a mean age of 4.43 ± 0.45 m.y. for the construction of the main subaerial shield volcano of Kauai.When this result from Kauai is combined with estimates of the average age for the shield-building volcanism in 16 other volcanoes in the Hawaiian island chain, extending over a distance of more than 2800 km, the data are found to conform to migration of the centre of volcanism from north-northwest to south-southeast at a uniform rate of 9.4 (±0.3) cm/yr over the last 28 m.y. Non-linear models of propagation of volcanism in the Hawaiian chain are quite unnecessary, especially when uncertainties in the data base are taken into account. These results are consistent with an origin of the Hawaiian volcanic chain by eruption from a magma source situated below the Pacific lithospheric plate, as proposed under hot spot or plume models. Depending upon choice of the pole for the Pacific plate, rates of rotation about the pole of 0.9° to 1.0°/m.y. are derived. By extrapolation of the Hawaiian Island chain data an age estimate of 37.8 m.y. is derived for the Hawaiian-Emperor Seamount intersection.     

Mercury: the enigmatic innermost planet

The planet Mercury, a difficult object for study by astronomical observation and spacecraft exploration alike, poses multiple challenges to our general understanding of the inner planets. Mercury’s anomalously high uncompressed density implies a metal fraction of 60% or more by mass, an extreme outcome of planetary formational processes common to the inner solar system. Whether that outcome was the result of chemical gradients in the early solar nebula or removal by impact or vaporization of most of the silicate shell from a differentiated protoplanet can potentially be distinguished on the basis of the chemical composition of the present crust. Our understanding of the geological evolution of Mercury and how it fits within the known histories of the other terrestrial planets is restricted by the limited coverage and resolution of imaging by the only spacecraft to have visited the planet. The role of volcanism in Mercury’s geological history remains uncertain, and the dominant tectonic structures are lobate scarps interpreted as recording an extended episode of planetary contraction, issues that require global imaging to be fully examined. That Mercury has retained a global magnetic field when larger terrestrial planets have not stretches the limits of standard hydromagnetic dynamo theory and has led to proposals for a fossil field or for exotic dynamo scenarios. Hypotheses for field generation can be distinguished on the basis of the geometry of Mercury’s internal field, and the existence and size of a fluid outer core on Mercury can be ascertained from measurements of the planet’s spin axis orientation and gravity field and the amplitude of Mercury’s forced librations. The nature of Mercury’s polar deposits, suggested to consist of volatile material cold-trapped on the permanently shadowed floors of high-latitude impact craters, can be tested by remote sensing of the composition of Mercury’s surface and polar atmosphere. The extremely dynamic exosphere, which includes a number of species derived from Mercury’s surface, offers a novel laboratory for exploring the nature of the complex and changing interactions among the solar wind, a small magnetosphere, and a solid planet. Recent ground-based astronomical measurements and several new theoretical developments set the stage for the in-depth exploration of Mercury by two spacecraft missions within the coming decade.     

Global SH-wave propagation in a 2D whole Moon model using the parallel hybrid PSM/FDM method

We present numerical modeling of SH-wave propagation for the recently proposed whole Moon model and try to improve our understanding of lunar seismic wave propagation. We use a hybrid PSM/FDM method on staggered grids to solve the wave equations and implement the calculation on a parallel PC cluster to improve the computing efficiency. Features of global SH-wave propagation are firstly discussed for a 100-km shallow and900-km deep moonquakes, respectively. Effects of frequency range and lateral variation of crust thickness are then investigated with various models. Our synthetic waveforms are finally compared with observed Apollo data to show the features of wave propagation that were produced by our model and those not reproduced by our models. Our numerical modeling show that the low-velocity upper crust plays significant role in the development of reverberating wave trains. Increasing frequency enhances the strength and duration of the reverberations.Surface multiples dominate wavefields for shallow event.Core–mantle reflections can be clearly identified for deep event at low frequency. The layered whole Moon model and the low-velocity upper crust produce the reverberating wave trains following each phases consistent with observation. However, more realistic Moon model should be considered in order to explain the strong and slow decay scattering between various phases shown on observation data.     

Global SH-wave propagation in a 2D whole Moon model using the parallel hybrid PSM/FDM method

We present numerical modeling of SH-wave propagation for the recently proposed whole Moon model and try to improve our understanding of lunar seismic wave propagation. We use a hybrid PSM/FDM method on staggered grids to solve the wave equations and implement the calculation on a parallel PC cluster to improve the computing efficiency. Features of global SH-wave propagation are firstly discussed for a 100-km shallow and 900-km deep moonquakes, respectively. Effects of frequency range and lateral variation of crust thickness are then investigated with various models. Our synthetic waveforms are finally compared with observed Apollo data to show the features of wave propagation that were produced by our model and those not reproduced by our models. Our numerical modeling show that the low-velocity upper crust plays significant role in the development of reverberating wave trains. Increasing frequency enhances the strength and duration of the reverberations. Surface multiples dominate wavefields for shallow event. Core–mantle reflections can be clearly identified for deep event at low frequency. The layered whole Moon model and the low-velocity upper crust produce the reverberating wave trains following each phases consistent with observation. However, more realistic Moon model should be considered in order to explain the strong and slow decay scattering between various phases shown on observation data.     

Silicic volcanism in Iceland: Composition and distribution within the active volcanic zones

Silicic volcanic rocks within the active volcanic zones of Iceland are mainly confined to central volcanoes. The volcanic zones of Iceland can be divided into rift zones and flank zones. Each of these zones contains several central volcanoes, most of which have produced minor amounts of silicic rocks. The silicic rocks occur as lavas and domes or as tephra layers, welded tuffs and ignimbrites, formed both in effusive and explosive eruptions. They tend to be glassy or very fine-grained, containing small amounts of phenocrysts. Plagioclase (andesine–oligoclase), anorthoclase or occasionally sanidine coexist with minerals such as augite, fayalite, pigeonite, orthopyroxene and magnetite. Quartz phenocrysts are exceedingly rare. Zoning of phenocrysts is limited and the pattern is variable. A set of 90 samples representing all active central volcanoes that have erupted silicic rocks was analysed for major- and trace-elements. The silicic rocks can be classified as dacites, trachytes, low-alkali rhyolites and alkalic rhyolites. Some of the trachytes and alkalic rhyolites are peralkaline (mostly comenditic). Trachytes and alkalic rhyolites are only found within the flank zones, while dacites and low-alkali rhyolites are mostly confined to the rift zones. The Icelandic rhyolites plot close to the thermal minimum in the “granite” system, while dacites and trachytes plot within the plagioclase field and towards the alkali feldspar temperature minimum. The silicic rocks are relatively Fe-rich and Ca-poor indicating low water pressure in the source. Trace element concentrations follow similar patterns in most central volcanoes. Exceptions are Torfajökull where silicic rocks display a negative correlation of Ba to Th and unusually high Th-contents, and the western flank zone where Ba-concentrations are highly variable. The ratios of different high field-strength elements are generally similar within each central volcano or region, which probably reflects different ratios in the source materials. Isotope systematics indicate that the silicic rocks are derived from older basaltic rocks similar to those from the same volcano, and that meteoric water has played a role in the genesis of the silicic rocks. Traditionally, the petrogenesis of silicic rocks in Iceland has been explained by various models of fractional crystallization or partial melting. The available data seems to be better explained by near-solidus differentiation than by near-liquidus differentiation. The silicic minimum melts can be extracted from the rigid framework of the near-solidus source by the process of solidification front instability or by deformation-assisted melt segregation. The source of the silicic rocks is within the intrusive complex beneath a central volcano rather than in a large, long-lived magma chamber.