The origin of Bahia seamounts (Brazil Basin,South Atlantic) in connection to new data on their age

Micropalentological studies of limestones and isotopic-geochronological determinations of the age of zircons found in vulcanites dredged from the region of the northern chain of the group of Bahia seamounts in the 28th cruise of the R/V Akademik Vavilov were undertaken. The recognized age difference of the northern chain of the Bahia seamounts of northwestern strike from 75 to 84 Ma from the southeast to the northwest indicates the fact that this chain was formed as a result of hot spot activity. The age of vulcanites is in good correlation with the Maastricht and Coniacian-Santonian age of limestones occurring on the slopes of the seamounts. The similarity of the seamounts age and the age of the oceanic bottom indicates the fact that the hot spot was localized near the spreading axial zone of the MAR. Along the strike of the chain, the centers of volcanic activity are correlated to the zones of transform faults, which are important in the hot spot activation. The formed chain is a weak zone in the lithosphere and the focus of younger stages of volcanic activity; there were at least two of stages within the northern chain of the Bahia seamounts, and these occurred about 75 and 59 Ma ago.     

First data on the age of rocks from the central part of the Vitoria-Trindade Ridge (Brazil Basin, South Atlantic)

Micropaleontological and isotope-geochronological investigations of calcareous sedimentary rocks and volcanites dredged out from the central portion of the submarine Vitoria-Trindade Ridge during the 24th cruise of R/V Akademik Vavilov have been conducted. It has been established based on micropaleontological analysis, which included determination of the species composition of foraminifera and nannoplankton, that the sequence of sedimentary rocks having a pelagic nature formed on the slopes of the volcanic seamounts in the central portion of the Vitoria-Trindade Ridge from the Early to Mid-Miocene to the Holocene; a good correlation between the degree of lithification of these rocks and their age is observed. It has also been established that the carbonate platforms on the abraded tops of the Davis Seamount and the Dogaressa Bank, which are located in the east-central portion of the Vitoria-Trindade Ridge, started forming in the Early Miocene (19–24 Ma). It has been determined using local U-Pb dating of zircon grains with a SHRIMP-II high resolution secondary ion mass spectrometer that the volcanites forming the upper portion of the volcanic rock sequence of the Jaseur Seamount (29.8 ± 6.6 Ma) located in the west-central portion of the Vitoria-Trindade Ridge date to the Oligocene. The investigations conducted have confirmed the opinion that the Vitoria-Trindade Ridge formed in general because of the activity of the hot spot located under the volcanic Trindade and Martin Vaz Islands. However, separate extended lenticular segments of this ridge existed for a long time as single structures, within which the age of the seamounts was not linearly dependent on the distance from the location of the hot spot. Lenses of hot mantle matter that form at the sublithospheric level as a result of impulses of plume activity and move along with the lithospheric plate play a defining role in the development of individual segments forming the Vitoria-Trindade Ridge.     

Asymmetric post-spreading magmatism in the South China Sea: based on the quantification of the volume and its spatiotemporal distribution of the seamounts

ABSTRACT

The volume of seamounts is an essential indicator of the intensity of mantle convection during the evolution of the oceanic lithosphere. Drilling and dredging samples suggest volcanic seamounts are widely distributed in the oceanic basin of the South China Sea, and most of them were formed after cessation of seafloor spreading. By using an SRTM15_PLUS Digital Elevation Model with a 15-arc-second grid, we developed a spatial filtering method based on the Top Hat Transform to extract seamounts. With a combined analysis of basalt dating results from previous studies and gravity anomaly data, an accurate estimation of seamount volume and its spatiotemporal distribution have been obtained. In addition to an asymmetric distribution of the seamounts with a larger volume in the northern flank, clusters of seamounts can be observed at certain locations in the abyssal plain. Due to the consistency between the distribution of the seamount volume and the seafloor spreading features in the South China Sea basin, we propose the ridge jump may induce additional partial melting zones which account for the larger number of seamounts developed in the northern flank while the re-orientation of the extension during seafloor spreading dominated the distribution of post-spreading magmatism. Similar to other marginal basins, magmas formed by spontaneous partial melting would migrate through weak lithosphere where the extension direction changed, resulting in post-spreading magmatism in those lithospheric weak zones.     

Accretion of crust in the axial zone of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge south of the Martin Vas Fracture Zone,South Atlantic

New data are obtained on the structure, evolution, and origin of zones of nontransform offsets of adjacent segments in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR), which, in contrast to transform fracture zones, so far are studied insufficiently. The effects of deep mantle plumes developing off the crest of the MAR on the processes occurring in the spreading zone are revealed. These results are obtained from the geological investigation of the crest of the MAR between 19.8 ° and 21° S, where bottom sampling, bathymetric survey, and magnetic measurements have been carried out previously. Two segments of the rift valley displaced by 10 km relative to each other along a nontransform offset are revealed. A volcanic center of a spreading cell, which has been active over the last 2 Ma, is located in the northern part of the southern segment and distinguished by a decreased depth of the rift valley and increased thickness of the crust. Magnesian, slightly evolved basalts of the N-MORB type are detected in this center, whereas evolved and high-Fe basalts are found beyond it. The variation in the composition of the basalts indicates that the volcanic center is related to the upwelling of the asthenospheric mantle, which spread along and across the spreading ridge. In the lithosphere, the melt migrated off the volcanic center along the rift valley. In the northern segment, a vigorous volcanic center arose 2.5 Ma ago near its southern end; at present, the volcanic activity has ceased. As a result of the volcanic activity, an oval rise composed of enriched T-MORB-type basalts was formed at the western flank of the crest zone. The isotopic signatures show that the primary melts are derivatives of the chemically heterogeneous mantle. The mixing of material of the depleted mantle with the mantle material pertaining either to the Saint Helena or the Tristan da Cunha plumes is suggested; the mixture of all three sources cannot be ruled out. The conclusion is drawn that the mantle material of the Saint Helena plume was supplied to the melting zone beneath the axial rift near the oval rise along a linear permeable zone in the mantle extending at an azimuth of 225° SW. The blocks of mantle material that got to the convecting mantle from the Tristan da Cunha plume at the stage of supercontinent breakup were involved in melting as well. The nontransform offset between the two segments arose on the place of a previously existing transform fracture zone about 5 Ma ago. The nontransform offset developed in the regime of oblique spreading at the progressive propagation of the southern segment to the north. The zone of nontransform offset is characterized by recent volcanic activity. Over the last 2 Ma, spreading of the studied MAR segment was asymmetric, faster in the western direction. The rates of westward and eastward half-spreading in the northern segment are estimated at 1.88 and 1.60 cm/yr, respectively.     

Systematic variations in the composition of volcanic rocks in tectono-magmatic seamount chaines in the Brazil Basin

Data on the composition of rocks in linear tectono-magmatic rises in the Brazil Basin indicate that volcanic rocks in the Vitoria—Trindade seamount chain were derived from a mantle reservoir unevenly enriched in phosphorus under the effect of melts close to subalkaline picrobasalt. These melts contained much of the EM I mantle component because the plume material was contaminated with continental lithospheric component. A long-lived isotopic homogeneity of the source is typical of the whole structure, including the Trindade and Martin Vaz Islands and the Abrolhos Plateau. The analogous isotopic ratios of rocks at the Fernando de Noronha Islands are reportedly explained by a similar mechanism of melt derivation and the similar evolution of the mantle plume material, which was originally situated beneath the South American continent. Compared to the melts of volcanic rocks of all other seamounts discussed herein, the parental melts of volcanics at the Victoria—Trindade Seamounts were derived at lower degrees of melting of enriched source material at a greater depth. The overwhelming majority of volcanic rocks at the northern chain of the Bahia Seamounts were produced by melts generated with the involvement of material of the HIMU type. At the same time, one of our rock samples was derived from a source of composition close to DM with a certain admixture of enriched material like EM I. The mantle source of rocks of the Pernambuco Seamounts consisted of a mixture of DM and HIMU material with a certain admixture of EM I (or, perhaps, EM II). The 10°–11° S Seamounts were formed near the MAR axial zone at the decompressional melting of chemically homogeneous mantle source that consisted of DM material with an admixture of EM I (or, perhaps, EM II) component.     

The cretaceous dynamics of the pacific plate and stages of magmatic activity in Northeastern Asia

The dynamics of the Pacific Plate is recorded in the systematic variation of location and the ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar age of seamounts in the western Pacific from 120 to 65 Ma ago. The seamounts are grouped into three linear zones as long as 5000 km. The seamounts become younger in the southeastern direction along the strike of these zones. Correlation between age and location of seamounts allows division of the history of their formation into three stages. The rate of seamount growth was relatively low (2–4 cm/yr) during the first and the third stages within the intervals of 120–90 and 85–65 Ma, whereas during the second stage (90–85 Ma), the seamounts were growing very fast (80–100 cm/yr). In the midst of this stage, at ～87 Ma ago, the magmatic activity increased abruptly. The dynamics of seamount building is in good agreement with (1) pulses in the development of the Ontong Java, Manihiki, and Caribbean-Colombian oceanic plateaus; (2) the age of spreading acceleration in the mid-Cretaceous; and (3) the short period when the Izanagi Plate ceased to exist and the Kula Plate was formed. The variation of the seamounts’ age and location is in consistence with the hypothesis of diffuse extension of the Pacific Plate in the course of its motion with formation of impaired zones of decompression melting. The direction of extension (325°–340° NW) calculated from the strike of seamount zones is consistent with the path of the Pacific Plate (330° NW) in the Late Cretaceous. The immense perioceanic volcanic belts were formed at that time along the margin of the Asian continent. The Okhotsk-Chukchi Peninsula Belt extends at a right angle to the compression vector. Three stages of this belt’s evolution are synchronous with the stages of seamount formation in the Pacific Plate. The delay in the origination of the East Sikhote-Alin Volcanic Belt and its different orientation were caused by counterclockwise rotation of the vector of convergence of oceanic and continental plates in the mid-Cretaceous. At the same time, i.e., 95–85 Ma ago, the volcanic activity embraced the entire continental margin and the tin granites were emplaced everywhere in eastern Asia. This short episode (90 ± 5 Ma) corresponds to the mid-Cretaceous maximum of compression of the continental margin, and its age fits a culmination in extension of the Pacific Plate well.     

辽西地区构造系统的形成与东北亚区域构造演化

燕山造山带东部辽西地区的构造填图，地质研究，以及中生代火山－沉积岩系的同位素资料 ，提供了东北亚和燕山板内造山带的演化历史。华北板块北部燕山－辽西地区自中元古宙至中生代，与整个华北克拉通一起，接受相同的地台盖层沉积，其沉积历史完全相同。在中晚三叠世之后，该区沉积了中生代火山碎屑岩和陆相沉积岩，并发生强烈的构造变形，这才有别于华北克拉通的其它稳定区。同位素资料表明，兴隆沟期火山岩，蓝旗期火山岩和义县期火山岩形成时间分别为200－170Ma,170-155Ma,140-100Ma。按构造成因和系统的指导思想，将该区构造构造归并成3种构造系统，即逆冲推覆构造系，正滑断裂系和走滑断裂系。这3种断裂系统的发育顺序是：逆冲推覆构造形成于早白垩世中期（相当于义县组，九佛堂组之间的界面）；正滑断裂构造系是九佛堂组和阜新组的同沉积构造；走滑断裂构造系形成最晚，为晚白垩世形成的构造。其中早期逆冲推覆构造起了主导作用，奠定了本区构造格局的基本格架，晚期构造的叠加并未从根本上改变已有的构造格局。三叠纪到早白垩世期间，在欧亚板块向南挤压和古太平洋板块向北向西方向的挤压作用下，于早白垩世中期形成本区的逆冲推覆构造；早白垩世晚期受古来洲大陆区域扩张的影响，形成了辽西地区的正滑断裂系，晚白垩世北北东向的走滑断裂系形成则与郯庐断裂活动有关。     

Postcambrian stratified rocks of the northern part of the Baikal-Vitim fold area

The Ordovician stratified rocks previously referred to Riphean or Vendian are widespread in the northern part of the Baikal-Vitim fold area. They include volcanosedimentary rocks which accumulated in continental riftlike troughs after Vendian-Cambrian platform regime and were accompanied by subvolcanic bodies. The coarse-clastic facies, frequently olistostromes with olistoplaques, are abundant in the marginal parts of the troughs. The sandy-silty-clay rocks dominate in the centre. The volcanic rocks represent the contrast rhyolite-basaltic series and compose paleovolcanoes of the central type, locally, complicated by calderas. Tuffaceous material is nearly almost present in synchronous sedimentary rocks. In the Ordovician, the northern part of the Baikal-Vitim fold area was an uplift of island arc type complicated by the riftlike troughs. It occupied the central part of the Baikal-Vitim arc. The location of the troughs was subjected to its structural plan. They were formed successively after the Riphean-Vendian Baikal-Muya volcano-plutonic belt. The uplift existed within a shallow basin occupying nearly the entire Siberian Platform and Baikal-Vitim fold area. The data obtained confirm that marine sedimentary basin with islands sometimes existed within the Baikal-Vitim fold area and was a part of the basin occupying the adjacent part of the Siberian Platform. The effect of pulsating plume in the northern part of the Baikal-Vitim fold area periodically, including Ordovician, led to the origination of the uplift and to renewal of tectonic and volcano-plutonic activity.     

The age and origin of the Balleny and Scott volcanic provinces,Ross Sea,Antarctica

The Balleny and Scott volcanic provinces are two isolated and remote volcanic occurrences located along the rifted margin of Western Antarctica in the Ross Sea. They include oceanic plateaus, seamounts, and volcanic islands. Although volcanic activity has been documented through remote sensing, there is no geochronological data based on radio-isotope methods constraining the duration of the volcanic activity in this region. As a consequence, hypotheses, based on the interpretation of chemical characteristics of the lavas, that suggested the volcanism to be either the result a deep mantle plume or a large-scale shallow melting anomaly have not yet been tested decisively.In order to tackle this issue, we have now dated lavas dredged from seamounts from both Balleny and Scott provinces using the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar technique. Our new age dates suggest that the Balleny and Scott volcanic provinces were active since at least 2.8 Ma and 2.4 Ma respectively. This suggests that these volcanic provinces were active simultaneously to the magmatism of the McMurdo volcanic group in the Western Antarctica Rift System that comprises Mount Erebus and Mount Melbourne stratovolcanoes. Our new dates suggest that there is no obvious age trend across the Balleny and Scott provinces. Combined with plate reconstructions since the end of Mesozoic, these data suggest that the Scott province does not coincide with any potential hot-spot track, thus negating a deep mantle plume origin for this volcanism. The case of the Balleny province is more ambiguous. The hypothesis of this province representing the end of the Tasman seamounts chain formed by a hot-spot track with decreasing-age trend is not confirmed by the new geochronological data, since available dates for the region are rather scarce and unreliable for the Tasman seamounts.Therefore, we suggest that the Balleny and Scott provinces originated from shallow mantle melting processes, a hypothesis that seems to be consistent with our re-interpretation of the SrNdPb isotope data of the lavas from the Balleny and Scott provinces. We argue that these provinces were derived from a heterogeneous subcontinental lithospheric mantle metasomatized during ancient subductions and which is now scattered in the shallow mantle of the southwest Pacific realm. This scattered mantle source component has been melting since the beginning of Cenozoic, and was then progressively depleted in the most fusible components. This new working model can explain the presence of several magmatic provinces in the southwest Pacific-Antarctica realm which show similar chemical signatures.     

浙江治岭头金银矿体的控矿构造

治岭头金银矿基底发育八都群变质系,盖层为晚侏罗世火山岩系,金银矿体赋存于变质岩系中,金银矿体受控于变质基底的韧性共轭剪切带。研究认为,NW方向的韧性剪切带具有右行平移性质,NE方向的韧性剪切带具有左行平移性质,EW方向剪切带未见剪切动向,主要为含变质岩角砾的石英脉。NE和NW两个方向的韧性剪切带具有共轭性质,EW方向剪切带位于共轭剪切带交汇部位,受到相向挤压造成的尖端钝化,SN向的脆性断裂对矿体起到破坏作用。     

木孜塔格-鲸鱼湖断裂带特征、演化及其意义

通过对东昆仑山木孜塔格—鲸鱼湖断裂在青藏高原北部陆内变形过程中形成的构造形迹、沉积建造、新生代火山活动、地球物理场变化综合研究,以野外第一手资料重建该过程的演化历史,认为木孜塔格—鲸鱼湖断裂是青藏高原北部陆内变形过程遗留的重要地质证据,卫星遥感图像上显示极为明显,它具有重要的区域构造意义。首先,发育大规模由北向南的叠瓦式逆冲推覆构造,新近纪由南向北沿构造带分布着东西向平行排列的"堑垒"相间式断陷盆地;其次还见有大量中性火山岩浆沿该断裂及其次级断裂溢出分布,成因分析表明其来源于陆内俯冲作用;第三,该断裂的走向延伸线上现今还发生较大规模的地震活动。综合分析表明,该断裂作为与柴达木地块南部构造边界断裂彼此平行的南东东向大型走滑断裂带,具有左行走滑构造分量,应是青藏高原北缘亚洲大陆向北东逃逸的主要断裂系统。     

Two contrasting magmatic types coexist after the cessation of back-arc spreading

Amongst island arcs, Izu–Bonin is remarkable as it has widespread, voluminous and long-lived volcanism behind the volcanic front. In the central part of the arc this volcanism is represented by a series of seamount chains which extend nearly 300 km into the back-arc from the volcanic front. These back-arc seamount chains were active between 17 and 3 Ma, which is the period between the cessation of spreading in the Shikoku Basin and the initiation of currently active rifting just behind the Quaternary volcanic front. In this paper we present new age, chemical and isotopic data from the hitherto unexplored seamounts which formed furthest from the active volcanic front. Some of the samples come from volcanoes at the western limit of the back-arc seamount chains. Others are collected from seamounts of various sizes which lie on the Shikoku Basin crust (East Shikoku Basin seamounts). The westernmost magmatism we have sampled is manifested as a series of volcanic edifices that trace the extinct spreading centre of the Shikoku Basin known as the Kinan Seamount Chain (KSC).Chemically, enrichment in fluid-mobile elements and depletion in HFSE relative to MORB indicates that the back-arc seamount chains and the East Shikoku Basin seamounts have a significant contribution of slab-derived material. In this context these volcanoes can be regarded as a manifestation of arc magmatism and distinct from the MORB-like lavas of the Shikoku back-arc basin. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages range from 15.7 to 9.6 Ma for the East Shikoku Basin seamounts, indicating this arc magmatism started immediately after the Shikoku Basin stopped spreading.Although the KSC volcanoes are found to be contemporaneous with the seamount chains and East Shikoku Basin seamounts, their chemical characteristics are very different. Unlike the calc-alkaline seamount chains, the KSC lavas range from medium-K to shoshonitic alkaline basalt. Their trace element characteristics indicate the absence of a subduction influence and their radiogenic isotope systematics reflect a mantle source combining a Philippine Sea MORB composition and an enriched mantle component (EM-1). One of the most remarkable features of the KSC is that their geochemistry has a distinct temporal variation. Element ratios such as Nb/Zr and concentrations of incompatible elements such as K₂O increase with decreasing age and reach a maximum at ca. 7 Ma when the KSC ceased activity.Based on the chemical and temporal information from all the data across the back-arc region, we have identified two contrasting yet contemporaneous magmatic provinces. These share a tectonic platform, but have separate magmatic roots; one stemming from subduction flux and the other from post-spreading asthenospheric melting.     

Structure of the Northwestern Boundary of the Middle Amur Sedimentary Basin (Russian Far East) from Audiomagnetotelluric Sounding Data

This paper reports the data on the structure of the northwestern boundary of the Middle Amur sedimentary basin which were obtained after resumption of audiomagnetotelluric soundings. The geoelectric sections for two profiles across the basin strike are constructed, the sedimentary cover and basement structures are studied, and their electrical properties are determined. The compared data of the earlier and present studies show low-resistivity zones of 50–150 Ohm m beneath high-resistivity rocks of 500–1000 Ohm m in the northwestern part of the Ul’dura–Churki uplift at a 2–4 km depth, which are absent in the southwestern part of the uplift. This fact is related to strike-slip–overthrust processes due to graben formation in the area of junction with the Jiamusi–Bureya Massif in the Kur fault zone (YYilan–Yitong branch of the Tan-Lu fault zone) and also to global left-lateral strike-slip displacements and volcanic activity.     

峨眉山地幔柱沉积构造演化及沉积响应

中、晚二叠世上扬子区发生了一次规模巨大的峨眉山地幔柱事件,该事件的火山产物为峨眉山玄武岩。峨眉山地幔柱事件的沉积与构造演化、火山活动过程中的沉积特征及沉积响应等研究表明,峨眉山地幔柱经历了岩浆深部活动、火山穹窿形成、火山喷发及地壳下沉等多个阶段。地幔柱除造成火山喷发外,还引发了很多与之相关的重要事件,如火山穹窿形成、地震、海啸及热液活动等,造成的沉积响应有沉积物同生滑动、热液沉积及风暴沉积等。其中,茅口组疙瘩状团块灰岩及其相关特征是沉积物同生滑动的结果,茅口组-长兴组中的燧石是岩浆分异的热液沉积,茅口组地层中的泥质及其中粗碎屑为风暴沉积。茅口组及吴家坪组杂乱沉积与地震活动有关,或许可以称之为“震积岩”。     

Deformations and Manifestations of Degassing in the Sedimentary Cover of the Equatorial Segment of the West Atlantic: Implications for Lithospheric Geodynamics

Manifestations of fluids and deformations in the sedimentary cover, which are both factors of brightening (blanking anomalies) in seismoacoustic records, in the equatorial segment of the Atlantic coincide with the sublatitudinal zones of the activated passive parts of transform faults and with zones of lower gravity anomalies and higher values of remnant magnetization, which form as a result of serpentinization. The cause-and-effect sequence of intraplate phenomena includes: the contrasting geodynamic state → horizontal movements that form macrofractures → water supply to the upper mantle → serpentinization of rocks in the upper mantle → deformations associated with vertical uplift of basement and sedimentary cover blocks, coupled with fluid generation → and fluid accumulation in the sedimentary cover, accompanied by the formation of anomalies in seismoacoustic records. Based on the seismic data, we have identified imbricate-thrust deformations, diapir structures, stamp folds, and positive and negative flower structures, indicating the presence of strike-slip faults in the passive parts of transform faults. The general spatial distribution of deformation structures shows their concentration in cold mantle zones. Correlative comparison of the structural characteristics of deformations shows the direct relationship between the heights of structures and the development of serpentinization processes. As per the age of the basement, deformations range from 27–38 to 43–53 Ma; a quite thick sedimentary cover makes it possible to reveal them based on the characteristic types of seismoacoustic records. The formation of the Antilles arc ca. 10 Ma ago affected the equatorial segment of the Atlantic; it formed kink bands where lithospheric blocks underwent displacements with counterclockwise rotations, deformations related to compression and vertical uplift of crustal fragments, and local extension that favored degassing of endogenous fluids. Sublatitudinally oriented imbricate-thrust deformations with different vergences indicate irregularity and alternating strike-slip directions as blocks between fractures were laterally influenced.     

Geochemistry of subducted metabasites exhumed from the Mariana forearc: Implications for Pacific seamount subduction

Seamounts on the drifting oceanic crust are inevitably carried by plate motions and eventually accreted or subducted. However, the geochemical signatures of the subducted seamounts and the significance of seamount subduction are not well constrained. Hundreds of seamounts have subducted beneath the Philippine Sea Plate following the westward subduction of the Pacific Plate since the Eocene (~52 Ma). The subducted oceanic crust and seamount materials can be exhumed from the mantle depth to the seafloor in the Mariana forearc region by serpentinite mud volcanoes, providing exceptional opportunities to directly study the subducted oceanic crust and seamounts. The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) expedition 366 has recovered a few metamorphosed mafic clasts exhumed from the Mariana forearc serpentinite mud volcanoes, e.g., the Fantangisña and Asùt Tesoru seamounts. These mafic clasts have tholeiitic to alkaline affinities with distinct trace elements and Nd-Hf isotopes characteristics, suggesting different provenances and mantle sources. The tholeiites from the Fantangisña Seamount have trace element characteristics typical of mid-ocean ridge basalt. The Pacific-type Hf-Nd isotopic compositions, combined with the greenschist metamorphism of these tholeiites further suggest that they came from the subducted Pacific oceanic crust. The alkali basalts-dolerites from the Fantangisña and Asùt Tesoru seamounts show ocean island basalt (OIB)-like geochemical characteristics. The OIB-like geochemical signatures and the low-grade metamorphism of these alkali basalts-dolerites suggest they came from subducted seamounts that originally formed in an intraplate setting on the Pacific Plate. The Pacific Plate origin of these metabasites suggests they were formed in the Early Cretaceous or earlier.Two types of OIBs have been recognized from alkali metabasites, one of which is geochemically similar to the HIMU-EMI-type OIBs from the West Pacific Seamount Province, and another is similar to the EMII-type OIBs from the Samoa Island in southern Pacific, with negative Nb-Ta-Ti anomalies and enriched Nd-Hf isotopes. Generally, these alkali metabasites are sourced from the heterogeneous mantle sources that are similar to the present South Pacific Isotopic and Thermal Anomaly. This study provides direct evidence for seamount subduction in the Mariana convergent margins. We suggest seamount subduction is significant to element cycling, mantle heterogeneity, and mantle oxidation in subduction zones.     

Formation of low-temperature mylonites and phyllonites by alkali-metasomatic weakening of felsic volcanic rocks during progressive,subduction-related deformation

Dacitic to rhyolitic volcanic rocks of the Spruce Lake nappe experienced two phases of alkali-metasomatism as a result of fluids channelling along shear zones. The shear zones formed during a progressive, thrust-related deformation associated with underplating and incorporation of the volcanic rocks into the Brunswick subduction complex of northern New Brunswick. The fluids mainly represent chemically and isotopically modified seawater released by dewatering of the associated underthrusted shaly sedimentary rocks. Both phases of metasomatism weakened the felsic rocks, leading to strain localisation. Albitisation of felsic volcanic rocks as a result of Na-metasomatism during underthrusting facilitated formation of mylonites near peak high-pressure metamorphism (330–370°C, 600–800 MPa). The mylonites are preferentially preserved in the roof-thrust shear zone of the Spruce Lake nappe. Core-mantle structures, bulging and crystallographically preferred orientations indicate that albite behaved more ductilely than K-feldspar. The ductility of albite at these low temperatures is interpreted as a function of abundant intragranular fluids. Phengite-rich phyllonites formed after peak high–pressure metamorphism during uplift by out-of-sequence thrusting. These phyllonites are generally characterised by a slight gain in K and loss of Na and are best developed in the basal shear zones of the Spruce Lake nappe.     

Deep Tectonophysical Process of the Uplift of the Northern Qinghai—Tibet Plateau

The tectonic activities occurring since the Cenozoic in the northern part of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (the region from the East Kunlun Mountains to the Tanggula Mountains) were probably caused by the intense intraplate deformation propagation after the collision between the Indian plate and the Eurasian plate. Their main expressions include the substantial uplifting of the plateau, alternation of horizontal extension and compression under the vertical greatest principal stress α₁, occurrence of rift–type volcanic activity, formation of the basin–range system, and successive eastward extrusion of blocks resulting from large–scale strike–slip faulting. Geophysical exploration and experiments have revealed that there exist closely alternating horizontal high–velocity and low–velocity layers as well as lithospheric faults of a left–lateral strike–slip sense in the lower part of the lithosphere (the lower crust and lithospheric mantle, 60–120 km deep), Based on an integrated study of the geological–geophysical data available, the authors have proposed a model of deep–seated mantle diapir and the associated tectonophysical process as the dynamic source for the uplift of the northern part of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau.     

Synvolcanic mixing of ore lead and the development of lead isotopic provinces in the Skellefte district,Sweden

Ore lead isotope ratios have been analysed in galenas and sulphosalts from nineteen massive sulphide deposits hosted by Svecofennian (1.9 Ga) supracrustals in the Skellefte ore district, northern Sweden. The ore lead data can be grouped on the basis of their geographical distribution. Most probably, this feature is reflecting a number of lead isotopic provinces which correspond to crustal blocks. The obtained ore lead data define linear trends in conventional Pb-Pb plots. The ore lead signatures are due to synvolcanic mixing processes as lead was leached from mafic and acid volcanic sources. The relationships inferred for initial ratios in source rocks at 1.89 Ga require a pre-Svecofennian crustal history. It is suggested that magmatic processes at c. 2.0 Ga involved recycling of Archean sedimentary material into the mantle and the formation of a crystalline, felsic basement. The metasomatized mantle and the basement melted at the time of Svecofennian magmatism (1.89 Ga) which created mafic and acid magma sources. Subsequently, basalts and rhyolites were extruded onto the sea floor. Ore was formed as hot solutions penetrated isotopically different levels of the volcanic pile.     

大兴安岭北部上护林盆地恩和大岭火山机构特征与时代

大兴安岭北部上护林盆地恩和大岭火山机构主要由白音高老组酸性熔岩、火山碎屑岩、次火山岩及火山-沉积岩组成。实测剖面显示,该火山机构由侵出相、溢流相、爆发相、次火山岩相及火山沉积相构成,不同岩性、岩相围绕火山口大致呈对称分布,产状外倾,为中心式喷发的穹状火山。溢流相的流纹岩和次火山岩相的正长斑岩锆石U-Pb测年结果分别为(115.3±2.3)Ma和(114.3±1.6)Ma,表明恩和大岭火山机构形成于早白垩世晚期。该火山机构为一次简单的火山喷发旋回一个喷发期次,大致的火山活动过程可分为四个阶段,第一阶段为早期岩浆溢流阶段,形成溢流相流纹岩夹少量流纹质角砾凝灰岩;第二阶段为晚期火山爆发阶段,产生大量的爆发相火山碎屑岩;第三阶段为岩浆侵入阶段,分别形成侵出相松脂岩、次火山岩相正长斑岩等;第四阶段为火山活动的间歇阶段,形成火山沉积相火山-沉积岩。