Seafloor magnetic lineation off the Otway/West Tasmania Basins: ridge jumps and the subsidence history of the southeast Australian margins

The seafloor off the Otway/West Tasmanian Basins has an east‐west magnetic lineation attributable to seafloor spreading and notionally identified with the set of seafloor spreading anomalies A8‐A20. Anomaly A20 (45 Ma) lies immediately south of a magnetic quiet zone that extends northward past the continent‐ocean boundary (COB). The Southeast Indian Ocean has a constant angular width between the formerly conjugate margins of Australia and Antarctica, consistent with spreading that started along the entire margin about 96 Ma.The proximity of A20 to the Australian COB in some spreading ridge segments is therefore postulated as due to jumps of the spreading ridge to Australia with concomitant transfer of the older oceanic part of the Australian Plate to the Antarctic Plate. Accordingly, the age of the oldest seafloor at the COB in seven original ridge segments is estimated to step from about 96 to 82, 79, and 75 Ma. Break‐up marks a change in the subsidence of the margin from rapid, during rifting by continental extension, to slow during thermal subsidence of the seafloor. Subsequent ridge jumps to the COB are expected to cause uplift or at least still‐stand of the adjacent continental margin. The subsidence history of the Otway/West Tasmanian margin, as indicated by oil exploration wells, is sympathetic with the timing of the postulated ridge jumps in the adjacent seafloor, as is that of the Great Australian Bight Basin with adjacent seafloor to the west, and of the Bass and Gippsland Basins with the Tasman Sea adjacent to the east. The growth of structure at 80 Ma in the outer Gippsland Basin corresponds with a jump to Australia of the Tasman Sea ridge at 82 and 75 Ma, and at 65 Ma in the Great Australian Bight and Otway Basins to a ridge jump to Australia of the adjacent seafloor. The growth of structure at 60 Ma in the Bass Basin and at 55 Ma in the Gippsland Basin corresponds with the abandonment of the Tasman Sea ridge at A24 (55 Ma) during a re‐organization of spreading in the southwest Pacific.     

Morphological characteristics and emplacement mechanism of the seamounts in the Central Indian Ocean Basin

The morphotectonic features of the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB) provide information regarding the development of the basin. Multibeam mapping of the CIOB reveals presence of abundant isolated seamounts and seamount chains sub-parallel to each other and major fracture zones along 73° E, 79° E and 75°45′ E. Morphological analyses were carried out for 200 seamounts that occur either as isolated edifies or along eight sub-parallel chains. The identified eight parallel seamount chains that trend almost north–south and reflecting the absolute motion of the Indian plate, probably originated from the ancient propagative fractures. Inspite of the differences in their height, the seamounts of these eight chains are morphologically correlatable. In the study area the seamounts are clustered north and south of 12° S latitude. Interestingly, in the area north of 12° S (area II: 9°–12° S) the seamounts are distinctly smaller (≤ 400 m height) whereas, the area south of 12° S (area I: 12°–15° S) has a mixed population of seamounts. The normalized abundance of the CIOB seamount is 976 seamounts/10⁶ km² but on a finer scale this value varies from 500 to 1600 seamounts/10⁶ km², which is less than the seamount concentrations of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans (9000 to 16,000 seamounts/10⁶ km²). Three categories of seamounts are present in the CIOB e.g. (1) single-peaked (2) multi-peaked and (3) composite. The study indicate that single-peaked seamounts are dominant (89%) while multi-peaked is less (8%) and composite ones are rare (3%) in the CIOB.The progressive northward movement of the Indian continent caused collision between India and Asia at around 62 Ma ago. A majority of the near-axis originated seamounts in the CIOB seemed to have formed as a consequence of the temporally widespread (Cretaceous  65 Ma to late Eocene < 49 Ma) collision between India and Eurasia. The regional stress patterns in the Indian plate vary N to NE in the continent and N to NW in Indian Ocean areas. The combined effect of the regional stress patterns maintained the orientation of the seamount chains and the local stress regime helped in the upwelling of magma and formation of seamounts. The low heat flow, morphological features and geochemical signature indicate that the morphotectonic structures formed contemporaneously with the oceanic crust.     

南海中央海盆条带状磁异常特征与海底扩张

在我国南海中央海盆中分布着大范围的规律性很强的条带状磁异常(近50万km²)。对它们进行分析、对比与解释,认为这是我国疆界内存在的由中央扩张脊型海底扩张产生的磁条带地层的反映,是洋壳增生的一个实例。它发生在新生代第三纪中晚期,距今32.3Ma～1.7Ma,具有太平洋西部边缘海底扩张型特点。对国内外地学界有争议的南中国海的形成与演化有了进一步的认识,对南海深部地质构造、地壳结构的研究和矿产资源开发等都具有重要意义。     

印度洋多金属结核地质特征与资源潜力

通过在中印度洋海盆结核区外的印度洋其他海域内收集到的298处多金属结核站位的分布、成分和赋存环境等地质特征,圈定了5处资源潜力区.文章对这些区域内海洋长周期沉积速率、底层水含氧量、底质类型、夏季海面平均生物生产力、底栖宏生物量密度、海底地形地貌特征和海底表层沉积物有机碳含量等数据信息进行加权评估,揭示各区域结核分布密度的高低状况,辅以结核主要有用组分含量的分类,确定了印度洋内各结核区资源潜力的划分标准.笔者认为加斯科因平原结核区为印度洋多金属结核高资源潜力区,马达加斯加海盆结核区和南澳大利亚海盆西部结核区为中等资源潜力区,克洛泽海盆结核区和南澳大利亚海盆东部结核区为低资源潜力区.未来在这些区域内,尤其是加斯科因平原结核区中有希望通过进一步调查研究,精确锁定具有更高资源潜力的次级面积结核勘探区,检验和完善资源潜力评估方法,精细量化揭示这些区域的资源潜力.     

Geodynamics of the Amirante Ridge and Trench Complex,Western Indian Ocean

The formation and evolution of the ～600 km long arcuate Amirante Ridge and Trench Complex (ARTC) is a significant geomorphic–structural feature in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO). The WIO contains evidence of at least two major magmatic episodes followed by continental rifting within the span of a little more than 20 million years. This involved the splitting of Madagascar from India at around 85 Ma and then separation between India and the Seychelles at 64–63 Ma as a possible consequence of two powerful volcanic eruptions from the Marion and Reunion hot spots, respectively. Formation and evolution of the ARTC represents this tumultuous period in the Indian Ocean, approximately between 85 and 60 Ma (Late Cretaceous–Early Tertiary).

We integrated geophysical, palaeomagnetical, and petrological data to examine three existing models that attempt to explain the formation of ARTC. In contrast, our study hints at several stages of extension and compression responsible for its formation. Our integrated data also suggest that the Carlsberg Ridge may have played a prominent role in the evolution of the ARTC that seems to have formed through a ridge-jump process after the conjugate spreading centres – Mascarene and Palitana ridges formed earlier during the India–Madagascar separation – ceased spreading because of violent eruption of the Reunion hot spot at around 65 Ma. The eruption disturbed the plumbing system of magma ascent, resulting in cessation of spreading along the conjugate spreading centres, forcing a ridge jump.

A collage of seismic refraction and reflection, free-air gravity, magnetic anomaly data, and Ar dating of rocks indicates that as the Carlsberg Ridge swept the Seychelles towards south, the crust between Madagascar and the Seychelles was increasingly compressed, with the abandoned northern Mascarene spreading centre absorbing the maximum stress. With continued compression, the western limb of the abandoned spreading ridge was thrust below the eastern limb to a limited degree. This partial subduction agrees with the gravity and seismic results. Our new study also accounts for the anomalous presence of 14 km-thick oceanic crust beneath the ARTC and its characteristic difference in petrology with other established subduction zones in the world.     

青藏高原隆升动力学与阿尔金断裂

青藏高原最晚一期也是最强烈的一期隆升发生在1-0.8Ma,与印度洋中脊三联点附近的“亚澳”陨击事件有关,陨击事件引起印度洋的快速扩张并导致印度板块在锡瓦利克带的强烈（A型）俯冲,正是这次俯冲引起了青藏高原及其外围山脉的快速隆升,中国西北的盆-山地貌因此而形成,其中东昆仑山推覆隆升近3000m,向北推挤近400km,是柴达木盆地,河西走廊新生界构造变形的主因,因此,“亚澳”陨击事件的影响,提供了青藏高原最晚一期隆升和中亚与中国西部大陆构造形成的大陆动力学背景;根据近年对阿尔金断裂带内同变形期新生矿（102-85Ma)近于同步,其累积错距达350-400km,晚白垩世一新生代同步错移了两侧原有的构造带和原型盆地。这为中国西部找矿,找油气的战略评估提供了一个新的思路。     

Microplankton provide 9 Ma age for sediment in the Macquarie Island ophiolite complex

Macquarie Island in the southwest Pacific Ocean (55°S) is unique as an exposed location for studying oceanic crust generated by slow seafloor spreading—regions where rocks are difficult to date using radiometric methods. Bolboforms, an extinct group of poorly known microplankton, in sediment intercalated with pillow lavas yield tight constraints (9.01–8.78 Ma) on the age of formation of the dominantly seafloor volcanic sequence constituting the south of the island. The occurrence of Bolboforma metzmacheri extends the known geographic range of this Late Miocene zonal marker species in the southwest Pacific. A monospecific calcareous nannoplankton flora (Reticulofenestra perplexa) accompanied by the foraminifer Neogloboquadrina pachyderma in sediment from the north part of the island indicates a slightly older age (9.5–9.3 Ma), consistent with a radiometric date (9.2 ± 0.4 Ma) from nearby volcanics. The new age data indicate that the ocean floor volcanic sequence formed early in the Late Miocene, possibly along short segments of a slow-spreading mid-ocean ridge. Bolboforms have potential to provide fine-scale dating in other similarly complex ridge systems that are difficult to date by other means.     

Extensional Structures in the Ophiolites from Cuba and China: New Constraints to Slowly‐Spreading Ancient Oceanic Lithosphere

A group of low‐angle normal faults developed in banded gabbro of Moa Ophiolite, Cuba. The dark gabbro was cut into puddings by several normal faults, while light gabbro was just swelling in layer thickness. In Hongliuhe ophiolite at eastern segment of South Tien Shan Suture Zone in China, the extensional deformation concentrates on fine cumulus gabbro which is typically mylonitized. Abundant structural features were discovered in HLH ophiolite such as S‐C foliation, C’ foliation, extensional crenulation cleavage, small toughness normal fault, low‐angle normal faults and high‐angle normal faults. According to the above tectonic phenomenon from the ophiolite belts in Cuba and China, we will get the conclusion: the maximum principal compressive stress (b1) is vertical to cumulus bedding, and the maximum tensile stress (b3) is paralleling to cumulus bedding. Considering of the above evidence, the extensional tectonic event should developed at mid‐ocean ridge. Due to seafloor spreading, the maximum tensile stress is paralleling to cumulus layer, and extensional tectonic is kept in cumulus gabbro. In this way, normal faults developed in dark gabbro, while brittle‐ductile extensional developed in light gabbro. A large number of domes, folds paralleling to ocean ridge and detachment faults represented by low angle normal fault were discovered near ocean ridge in Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean. In this way, materials from deep oceanic lithosphere (e.g. gabbro, mantle peridotite) outcrop at the crust surface of ocean basin. The above evidences from China and Cuba are consistent with extensional tectonic and metamorphic core complex from slowly and super‐slowly spreading Indian Ocean and Atlantic Oceanic lithosphere based on ODP. Therefore, extensional deformation in the ophiolite belt is of significant meaning for clarifying the formation process and mechanism of ancient oceanic basin.     

Patterns of stress at midocean ridges and their offsets due to seafloor subsidence

The effect of the seafloor subsidence on the horizontal stress field is investigated by combining the finite element method with a formulation that allows us to compute the two-dimensional (2D) horizontal stresses arising from isostatically compensated vertical loads. The topographic load created by the elevation of midocean ridges relative to old ocean floor is shown to be a significant source of ridge-parallel tensile stresses. These may predominate over the ridge-perpendicular stresses and explain observations at midocean ridge offsets such as (1) oblique normal faulting at ridge-transform intersections trending up to 60° relative to the ridge axis, and (2) nontransform offsets consisting of structures oriented at 45° relative to the ridge trend. At midocean ridge overlaps, rotation of the ridge-parallel tensile stresses favours rift propagation at more than 45° relative to the ridge trend. It is suggested that propagating rift tips that bend abruptly lead to partially unlocked offsets, and as a result large overlaps may eventually start to rotate and evolve into a microplate.     

Evidences for Incipient Hydrothermal Event(s) in the Central Indian Basin: A Review

1 IntroductionMetalliferous sediments and mounds occur in all majortectonic settings in the oceans (e.g., the Galapagos Rift,East Pacific Rise (EPR), Bauer Deep and Central Basin ofthe Pacific; Heath and Dymond, 1977). Further, massivesulphide deposits and high-temperature vents have beenreported along the mid-ocean ridges (MOR). In the IndianOcean, an inactive hydrothermal field and a hydrothermalplume site have been discovered along the Central IndianRidge (CIR). The SONNE Hydro…     

拉萨地块北部~90Ma斑岩型矿床年代学及成矿地质背景

近年来青藏高原多个大型—超大型斑岩Cu-Mo-Au矿床的发现已引起人们广泛的关注,现有研究显示这些含矿斑岩和斑岩型矿床的形成年龄主要集中在120～110Ma、～90Ma、54～45Ma和18～12Ma4个阶段,其中90Ma左右的斑岩型矿床的成矿地质背景仍存在很大争议。本文报道拉萨地块北部尼玛县拔拉扎斑岩型矿床含矿斑岩的LA-ICPMS锆石U-Pb定年以及辉钼矿Re-Os定年结果,并分析了该期的成矿地质背景。两件花岗闪长斑岩锆石206Pb/238U加权平均年龄分别为92.1±1.2Ma、93.8±1.2Ma,代表了岩浆的结晶时代;而辉钼矿Re-Os模式年龄为88.2～89.6Ma,代表了拔拉扎矿床的成矿年龄。依据区域地质资料,本文认为拉萨地块北部～90Ma岩浆活动和成矿作用既不可能是雅鲁藏布江结合带所代表的新特提斯洋平板俯冲或洋脊俯冲的产物,也不可能是班公湖-怒江洋盆南向俯冲消减直接的产物,而很可能是班公湖-怒江洋盆俯冲消减闭合之后碰撞过程的产物。因此本文认为拉萨地块中北部地区～90Ma的岩浆作用及其成矿作用是形成于碰撞的构造背景。     

Mosaic of Deformed Tectonic Blocks in the Central Basin of the Indian Ocean

Doklady Earth Sciences - A detailed map of the seafloor relief of a unique area of the intraplate lithosphere deformation in the Central Basin of the Indian Ocean was constructed for the first...     

West Pacific and North Indian Ocean Seafloor and Their Ocean-Continent Connection Zones: Evolution and Debates

The Indian Ocean and the West Pacific Ocean and their ocean-continent connection zones are the core area of "the Belt and Road". Scientific and in-depth recognition to the natural environment, disaster distribution, resources, energy potential of “the Belt and Road” development, is the cut-in point of the current Earth science community to serve urgent national needs. This paper mainly discusses the following key tectonic problems in the West Pacific and North Indian oceans and their ocean-continent connection zones (OCCZs): 1. modern marine geodynamic problems related to the two oceans. Based on the research and development needs to the two oceans and the ocean-continent transition zones, this item includes the following questions. (1) Plate origin, growth, death and evolution in the two oceans, for example, 1) The initial origin and process of the triangle Pacific Plate including causes and difference of the Galapagos and West Shatsky microplates; 2) spatial and temporal process, present status and trends of the plates within the Paleo- or Present-day Pacific Ocean to the evolution of the East Asian Continental Domain; 3) origin and evolution of the Indian Ocean and assembly and dispersal of supercontinents. (2) Latest research progress and problems of mid-oceanic ridges: 1) the ridge-hot spot interaction and ridge accretion, how to think about the relationship between vertical accretion behavior of thousands years or tens of thousands years and lateral spreading of millions years at 0 Ma mid-oceanic ridges; 2) the difference of formation mechanisms between the back-arc basin extension and the normal mid-oceanic ridge spreading; 3) the differentials between ultra-slow dian Ocean and the rapid Pacific spreading, whether there are active and passive spreading, and a push force in the mid-oceanic ridge; 4) mid-oceanic ridge jumping and termination: causes of the intra-oceanic plate reorganization, termination, and spatial jumps; 5) interaction of mantle plume and mid-oceanic ridge. (3) On the intra-oceanic subduction and tectonics: 1) the origin of intra-oceanic arc and subduction, ridge subduction and slab window on continental margins, transform faults and transform-type continental margin; 2) causes of the large igneous provinces, oceanic plateaus and seamount chains. (4) The oceanic core complex and rheology of oceanic crust in the Indian Ocean. (5) Advances on the driving force within oceanic plates, including mantle convection, negative buoyancy, trench suction and mid-oceanic ridge push, is reviewed and discussed. 2. The ocean-continent connection zones near the two oceans, including: (1) Property of continental margin basement: the crusts of the Okinawa Trough, the Okhotsk Sea, and east of New Zealand are the continental crusts or oceanic crusts, and origin of micro-continent within the oceans; (2) the ocean-continent transition and coupling process, revealing from the comparison of the major events between the West Pacific Ocean seamount chains and the continental margins, mantle exhumation and the ocean-continent transition zones, causes of transform fault within back-arc basin, formation and subduction of transform-type continental margin; (3) strike-slip faulting between the West Pacific Ocean and the East Asian Continent and its temporal and spatial range and scale; (4) connection between deep and surface processes within the two ocean and their connection zones, namely the assembly among the Eurasian, Pacific and India-Australia plates and the related effect from the deep mantle, lithosphere, to crust and surface Earth system, and some related issues within the connection zones of the two oceans under the super-convergent background. 3. On the relationship, especially their present relations and evolutionary trends, between the Paleo- or Present-day Pacific plates and the Tethyan Belt, the Eurasian Plate or the plates within the Indian Ocean. At last, this paper makes a perspective of the related marine geology, ocean-continent connection zone and in-depth geology for the two oceans and one zone.     

Evolution of the Karoo-Maud mantle plume in antarctica and its influence on the magmatism of the early stages of Indian ocean opening

New results on the petrochemistry and geochemistry of dolerites from the Schirmacher Oasis shed light on the development of the Karoo-Maud plume in Antarctica. The basalts and dolerites are petrologically identical to the rocks of western Dronning Maud Land (DML), which were previously studied and interpreted as a manifestation of the Karoo-Maud plume in Antarctica. The spatial distribution of the dikes suggests eastward spreading of the plume material, up to the Schirmacher Oasis for at least 10 Ma. The geochemical characteristics of magmas from the Schirmacher Oasis reflect the influence of crustal contamination, which accompanied both the ascent and spreading of the plume. The magmas of the initial stage of plume activity (western DML) appeared to be the most contaminated in crustal components.It was found that the geochemical characteristics of Mesozoic magmas from the Schirmacher Oasis are identical to those of enriched tholeiites from the Afanasy Nikitin Rise and the central Kerguelen Plateau (Hole 749), which indicates that their enrichment was related to the ancient material of the Gondwana continent. This was caused by the opening of the Indian Ocean under the influence of the Karoo-Maud plume. This process was peculiar in that it occurred in the presence of nonspreading blocks of varying thickness, for instance, Elan Bank in the central Kerguelen Plateau, and was accompanied by the formation of intraplate volcanic rises, which are documented in the seafloor relief of basins around Antarctica. The geochemical characteristics of igneous rocks from the resulting rises (Afanasy Nikitin, Kerguelen, Naturaliste, and Ninetyeast Ridge) indicate the influence of processes related to crustal assimilation. The magmatism that occurred 40 Ma after the main phase of the Karoo-Maud volcanism at the margins of the adjacent continents of Australia (Bunbury basalts) and India (Rajmahal trapps) could be generated by the Karoo-Maud plume flowing along the developing spreading zone. The plume moved subsequently and was localized at the Kerguelen Plateau, where it occurs at present as an active hotspot.     

大南海地区新生代板块构造活动

在新生代澳大利亚板块和欧亚板块之间的大洋中，存在一些地块(微板块)；同时，澳大利亚板块北部边缘的一些地块先后和澳大利亚板块分离，向北运动，与一些和欧亚板块分离出来的地块先后发生碰撞缝合。在此期间，由于地块分离而发生海底扩张，产生许多小洋盆，如南海、苏录海、苏拉威西海、安达曼海等，最后形成了东南亚地区今日的构造景观。笔者从大南海地区新生代的构造演化史之框架来研究南海地区新生代的构造演化历史，认为南海地区新生代的构造活动既与印度板块和欧亚板块的碰撞有关，也与太平洋板块向欧亚板块的俯冲活动有联系；同时，还受到澳大利亚板块向北运动之影响。南海地区在新生代发生过两次海底扩张，第一次海底扩张发生在42～35Ma前．是受印度板块和欧亚板块碰撞而引起欧亚大陆之下向东南方向之地幔流的影响而发生的，其海底扩张方向为NWSE，产生了南海西南海盆；第二次海底扩张发生于32～17Ma前。由于太平洋板块向欧亚板块俯冲，俯冲的大洋岩石圈已达700km深处，阻挡了欧亚大陆的上地幔向东南方向之流动，从而转向南流动。引起南海地区南北向海底扩张，即新生代第二次海底扩张，产生了南海中央海盆。南海新生代洋盆诞生之后，由于大南海地区继续有地块碰撞和边缘海海底扩张，对南海南部地区产生挤压，从而使这里的沉积发生变形，这就引起万安运动(南海南部)。     

雅鲁藏布江蛇绿岩的形成与日喀则弧前盆地沉积演化

雅鲁藏布江蛇绿岩被时代连续的日喀则群沉积覆盖及其形成时代(120-110Ma)与冈底斯弧开始发育的时代(115-100Ma)十分相近的事实使人们有理由提出:雅鲁藏布江蛇绿岩是否代表着印度板块与拉萨地块间的特提斯-喜玛拉雅洋残迹的疑问。根据近期的研究,笔者认为雅鲁藏布江蛇绿岩不是形成于三叠纪的特提斯-喜玛拉雅洋的残迹,而是特提斯-喜玛拉雅洋向拉萨地块俯冲的初期(阿普第-阿尔必期),由俯冲作用在冈底斯弧前地区引发的海底扩张作用形成的一种俯冲带上叠型蛇绿岩(supra-subduction zone ophiolites).至森诺曼期,弧前海底扩张作用停止,雅鲁藏布江蛇绿岩开始向南仰冲,在其南侧形成增生杂岩楔。仰起的蛇绿岩开始向日喀则弧前盆地提供蛇绿质碎屑,如冲堆组。森诺曼期-土仑期,盆地接受了一套深水复理石沉积,沉积物源部分来自南部边缘脊的蛇绿质碎屑,而大部分则来自北侧的弧火山岩和岩浆岩碎屑。森诺期-路坦丁期,盆地逐渐变浅,接受了浅海-滨海沉积,物源均来自北部的岩浆弧。至始新世末期,发育在盆地南侧的增生杂岩楔与印度板块发生碰撞,日喀则弧前盆地闭合。     

青藏高原及邻区三阶段构造演化与成矿演化

青藏高原具有典型的三分时空结构和3种尺度动力学体系.青藏高原由3个构造结调整的3个盆山体系组成, 北部、东部和南部3个盆山体系分别受控于古亚洲洋及西伯利亚、西太平洋和特提斯三大构造域, 经历了前寒武纪超大洋一超大陆耦合、加里东期-印支期-燕山期和喜马拉雅早期自北而南的洋陆耦合和板内盆山耦合三大构造发展过程, 形成于地核流层驱动的地核(或全球) 动力学过程、地幔流层驱动的地幔(或岩石圈) 动力学过程和地壳流层驱动的地壳(或大陆) 动力学过程, 构成历史地球系统动力学系统.青藏高原不是印度板块与欧亚板块碰撞的结果, 而是形成于下地壳流动驱动的板内盆山作用, 可分为以中、新生代有序向南迁移式构造隆升、水平运动、地质作用和成矿作用为特征的板内造山阶段和以脉动式快速隆升、垂直运动、地理作用和环境变化为特征的均衡成山阶段.构造谱系决定了成矿谱系, 区域构造叠加演化造成地壳成熟度的不断增加和矿床密集度的不断提高.青藏高原3个构造成矿演化阶段包括1.8~1.4Ga、500~420Ma、300~260Ma、180~120Ma、65~30Ma、23~7Ma等6个主金属成矿期, 1.8~1.4Ga超大陆裂解事件形成与深地幔火山岩浆作用有关的大红山式海相火山喷流沉积改造型铁铜矿、金川式与镁铁-超镁铁质岩有关的铜镍硫化物浆矿床, 500~420Ma、300~260Ma和180~120Ma特提斯裂解环境下形成罗布莎式地幔剪切-改造脉型(豆荚状) 铬铁矿床、呷村式海相火山成因块状硫化物矿床等, 180~120Ma、65~30Ma和23~7Ma是青藏高原自北而南板内伸展环境下大规模成矿期, 形成驱龙式斑岩铜矿床、哀牢山式剪切带型金矿床、金顶式陆相盆地沉积型铅锌矿床, 构成一个完整的地球系统成矿动力学演化体系.      

The evolution of marginal basins and adjacent shelves in east and southeast Asia

The structural elements on the shallow (Sunda Shelf) and deep seas of east and south—east Asia are interpreted as the result of past interaction between lithospheric plates. During the Mesozoic the western Pacific Ocean and the eastern Indian Ocean were parts of the Tethys Sea and were moving to the north relative to Antarctica. A Mesozoic ridge system trending east—west produced east—west trending magnetic anomalies throughout the entire area. The ridge system was bisected by large north—south transform faults which divided the eastern Indian Ocean—western Pacific Ocean into sub-plates traveling at different speeds. The Mesozoic evolution of the Sunda Shelf and the deep seas resulted from such horizontal differential movement in a north—south direction. During Late Cretaceous—Eocene the various segments of the spreading ridge gradually submerged beneath the deep sea trenches to the north, causing a gradual change in the direction of motion of the Pacific plate. The change in motion of the Pacific plate resulted in the separation between the Pacific and the eastern Indian Ocean plates, the formation of large northeast—southwest tectonic elements on the Sunda Shelf and elsewhere in south—east Asia, the formation of the western Philippine Basin and the rapid northward motion of Australia. The only remnant of the Mesozoic ridge system exists today at the western Philippine Basin.     

What processes at mid-ocean ridges tell us about volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits

Episodic seafloor spreading, ridge topography, and fault movement at ridges find (more extreme) analogs in the arc and back-arc setting where the volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits that we mine today were formed. The factors affecting sulfide accumulation efficiency and the extent to which sulfides are concentrated spatially are the same in both settings, however. The processes occurring at mid-ocean ridges therefore provide a useful insight into those producing VMS deposits in arcs and back-arcs. The critical observation investigated here is that all the heat introduced by seafloor spreading at mid-ocean ridges is carried out of the crust within a few hundred meters of the ridge axis by ??350°C hydrothermal fluids. The high-temperature ridge hydrothermal systems are tied to the presence of magma at the ridge axis and greatly reduce the size and control the shape of axial magma intrusions. The amount of heat introduced to each square kilometer of ocean crust during its formation can be calculated, and its removal by high-temperature convection allows calculation of the total base metal endowment of the ocean basins. Using reasonable metal deposition efficiencies, we conclude that the ocean floor is a giant VMS district with metal resources >600 times the total known VMS reserves on land and a copper resource which would last >6,000?years at current production rates.     

Recent volcanism in relation to plate interaction and deep-level geodynamics

The spatial distribution of recent (under 2 Ma) volcanism has been studied in relation to mantle hotspots and the evolution of the present-day supercontinent which we named Northern Pangea. Recent volcanism is observed in Eurasia, North and South America, Africa, Greenland, the Arctic, and the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Several types of volcanism are distinguished: mid-ocean ridge (MOR) volcanism; subduction volcanism of island arcs and active continental margins (IA + ACM); continental collision (CC) volcanism; intraplate (IP) volcanism related to mantle hotspots, continental rifts, and transcontinental belts. Continental volcanism is obviously related to the evolution of Northern Pangea, which comprises Eurasia, North and South America, India, Australia, and Africa. The supercontinent is large, with predominant continental crust. The geodynamic setting and recent volcanism of Northern Pangea are determined by two opposite processes. On one hand, subduction from the Pacific Ocean, India, the Arabian Peninsula, and Africa consolidates the supercontinent. On the other hand, the spreading of oceanic plates from the Atlantic splits Northern Pangea, changes its shape as compared with Wegener’s Pangea, and causes the Atlantic geodynamics to spread to the Arctic. The long-lasting steady subduction beneath Eurasia and North America favored intense IA + ACM volcanism. Also, it caused cold lithosphere to accumulate in the deep mantle in northern Northern Pangea and replace the hot deep mantle, which was pressed to the supercontinental margins. Later on, this mantle rose as plumes (IP mafic magma sources), which were the ascending currents of global mantle convection and minor convection systems at convergent plate boundaries. Wegener’s Pangea broke up because of the African superplume, which occupied consecutively the Central Atlantic, the South Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean and expanded toward the Arctic. Intraplate plume magmatism in Eurasia and North America was accompanied by surface collisional or subduction magmatism. In the Atlantic, Arctic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, deep-level plume magmatism (high-alkali mafic rocks) was accompanied by surface spreading magmatism (tholeiitic basalts).