A general model for the intrusion and evolution of 'mantle' garnet peridotites in high-pressure and ultra-high-pressure metamorphic terranes

Garnet‐bearing peridotite lenses are minor but significant components of most metamorphic terranes characterized by high‐temperature eclogite facies assemblages. Most peridotite intrudes when slabs of continental crust are subducted deeply (60–120 km) into the mantle, usually by following oceanic lithosphere down an established subduction zone. Peridotite is transferred from the resulting mantle wedge into the crustal footwall through brittle and/or ductile mechanisms. These ‘mantle’ peridotites vary petrographically, chemically, isotopically, chronologically and thermobarometrically from orogen to orogen, within orogens and even within individual terranes. The variations reflect: (1) derivation from different mantle sources (oceanic or continental lithosphere, asthenosphere); (2) perturbations while the mantle wedges were above subducting oceanic lithosphere; and (3) changes within the host crustal slabs during intrusion, subduction and exhumation. Peridotite caught within mantle wedges above oceanic subduction zones will tend to recrystallize and be contaminated by fluids derived from the subducting oceanic crust. These ‘subduction zone peridotites’ intrude during the subsequent subduction of continental crust. Low‐pressure protoliths introduced at shallow (serpentinite, plagioclase peridotite) and intermediate (spinel peridotite) mantle depths (20–50 km) may be carried to deeper levels within the host slab and undergo high‐pressure metamorphism along with the enclosing rocks. If subducted deeply enough, the peridotites will develop garnet‐bearing assemblages that are isofacial with, and give the same recrystallization ages as, the eclogite facies country rocks. Peridotites introduced at deeper levels (50–120 km) may already contain garnet when they intrude and will not necessarily be isofacial or isochronous with the enclosing crustal rocks. Some garnet peridotites recrystallize from spinel peridotite precursors at very high temperatures (c. 1200 °C) and may derive ultimately from the asthenosphere. Other peridotites are from old (>1 Ga), cold (c. 850 °C), subcontinental mantle (‘relict peridotites’) and seem to require the development of major intra‐cratonic faults to effect their intrusion.     

Continental rifting as a function of lithosphere mantle strength

The role of the uppermost mantle strength in the pattern of lithosphere rifting is investigated using a thermo-mechanical finite-element code. In the lithosphere, the mantle/crust strength ratio (S_M/S_C) that decreases with increasing Moho temperature T_M allows two strength regimes to be defined: mantle dominated (S_M > S_C) and crust dominated (S_M < S_C). The transition between the two regimes corresponds to the disappearance of a high strength uppermost mantle for T_M > 700 °C. 2D numerical simulations for different values of S_M/S_C show how the uppermost mantle strength controls the style of continental rifting. A high strength mantle leads to strain localisation at lithosphere scale, with two main patterns of narrow rifting: “coupled crust–mantle” at the lowest T_M values and “deep crustal décollement” for increasing T_M values, typical of some continental rifts and non-volcanic passive margins. The absence of a high strength mantle leads to distributed deformations and wide rifting in the upper crust. These numerical results are compared and discussed in relation with series of classical rift examples.     

Strain localisation in the subcontinental mantle — a ductile alternative to the brittle mantle

It is now admitted that the high strength of the subcontinental uppermost mantle controls the first order strength of the lithosphere. An incipient narrow continental rift therefore requires an important weakening in the subcontinental mantle to promote lithosphere-scale strain localisation and subsequent continental break-up. Based on the classical rheological layering of the continental lithosphere, the origin of a lithospheric mantle shear/fault zone has been attributed to the existence of a brittle uppermost mantle. However, the lack of mantle earthquakes and the absence of field occurrences in the mantle fault zone led to the idea of a ductile-related weakening mechanism, instead of brittle-related, for the incipient mantle strain localisation. In order to provide evidence for this mechanism, we investigated the microstructures and lattice preferred orientations of mantle rocks in a kilometre-scale ductile strain gradient in the Ronda Peridotites (Betics cordillera, Spain). Two main features were shown: 1) grain size reduction by dynamic recrystallisation is found to be the only relevant weakening mechanism responsible for strain localisation and 2), with increasing strain, grain size reduction is coeval with both the scattering of orthopyroxene neoblasts and the decrease of the olivine fabric strength (LPO). These features allow us to propose that grain boundary sliding (GBS) partly accommodates dynamic recrystallisation and subsequent grain size reduction.A new GBS-related experimental deformation mechanism, called dry-GBS creep, has been shown to accommodate grain size reduction during dynamic recrystallisation and to induce significant weakening at low temperatures (T < 800 °C). The present microstructural study demonstrates the occurrence of the grain size sensitive dry-GBS creep in natural continental peridotites and allows us to propose a new rheological model for the subcontinental mantle. During dynamic recrystallisation, the accommodation of grain size reduction by three competing deformation mechanisms, i.e., dislocation, diffusion and dry-GBS creeps, involves a grain size reduction controlled by the sole dislocation creep at high temperatures (> 800 °C), whereas dislocation creep and dry-GBS creep, are the accommodating mechanisms at low temperatures (< 800 °C). Consequently, weakening is very limited if the grain size reduction occurs at temperatures higher than 800 °C, whereas a large weakening is expected in lower temperatures. This large weakening related to GBS creep would occur at depths lower than 60 km and therefore provides an explanation for ductile strain localisation in the uppermost continental mantle, thus providing an alternative to the brittle mantle.     

Influence of the precollisional stage on subduction dynamics and the buried crust thermal state: Insights from numerical simulations

At continental subduction initiation, the continental crust buoyancy may induce, first, a convergence slowdown, and second, a compressive stress increase that could lead to the forearc lithosphere rupture. Both processes could influence the slab surface P–T conditions, favoring on one side crust partial melting or on the opposite the formation of ultra-high pressure/low temperature (UHP-LT) mineral. We quantify these two effects by performing numerical simulations of subduction. Water transfers are computed as a function of slab dehydration/overlying mantle hydration reactions, and a strength decrease is imposed for hydrated mantle rocks. The model starts with an old oceanic plate ( 100 Ma) subducting for 145.5 Myr with a 5 cm/yr convergence rate. The arc lithosphere is thermally thinned between 100 km and 310 km away from the trench, due to small-scale convection occuring in the water-saturated mantle wedge. We test the influence of convergence slowdown by carrying on subduction with a decreased convergence rate (≤ 2 cm/yr). Surprisingly, the subduction slowdown yields not only a strong slab warming at great depth (> 80 km), but also a significant cooling of the forearc lithosphere at shallower depth. The convergence slowdown increases the subducted crust temperature at 90 km depth to 705 ± 62 °C, depending on the convergence rate reduction, and might thus favor the oceanic crust partial melting in presence of water. For subduction velocities ≤ 1 cm/yr, slab breakoff is triggered 20–32 Myr after slowdown onset, due to a drastic slab thermal weakening in the vicinity of the interplate plane base. At last, the rupture of the weakened forearc is simulated by imposing in the thinnest part of the overlying lithosphere a dipping weakness plane. For convergence with rates ≥ 1 cm/yr, the thinned forearc first shortens, then starts subducting along the slab surface. The forearc lithosphere subduction stops the slab surface warming by hot asthenosphere corner flow, and decreases in a first stage the slab surface temperature to 630 ± 20 °C at 80 km depth, in agreement with P–T range inferred from natural records of UHP-LT metamorphism. The subducted crust temperature is further reduced to 405 ± 10 °C for the crust directly buried below the subducting forearc. Such a cold thermal state at great depth has never been sampled in collision zones, suggesting that forearc subduction might not be always required to explain UHP-LT metamorphsim.     

An explosion seismology investigation of the continental margin west of the Hebrides, Scotland, at 58°N

During summer 1975, a line of large shots was fired across the continental margin between the Rockall Trough and the Hebridean shelf along 58°N. Arrivals were observed at temporary seismic stations set up across Scotland and in northwestern Ireland. A clear P₂ phase was observed to cross the margin and a converted phase P₁ also seen on the records is interpreted as travelling in the sub-sedimentary oceanic crust of Rockall Trough and in the upper continental crust beneath the shelf.The continental crust beneath the Hebridean shelf is estimated to be 27 ± 2 km thick, with P_g = 6.22 ± 0.03 km/s and P_n = 8.01 ± 0.04 km/s as determined by time-term analysis. P_g delays on the outer shelf are interpreted in terms of a seaward thickening wedge of Mesozoic sediments which pre-date the split. P_n beneath the Rockall Trough was poorly determined at 8.20 ± 0.17 km/s and the Moho is estimated to be 18 ± 2 km deep at 58°N. This and other seismic and gravity work indicates a northward thickening of the crust along the Rockall Trough, accounting for the northward decrease in the height of the slope.Our results, and those of gravity interpretations, indicate a relatively abrupt transition between continental and oceanic crust, possibly correlating with the lack of major shelf subsidence. This is attributed to a relatively cool origin for this margin. The main thinning of the continental crust beneath the slope is attributed to outslip of continental crustal material into and beneath the newly forming oceanic crust during the first few million years after the split, possibly enhanced by pre-split stretching.     

华北克拉通晚中生代壳-幔拆离作用: 岩石流变学约束

大陆岩石圈的流变学结构对于岩石圈深部过程(壳/幔过程)有着深刻的影响,直接表现在岩石圈壳-幔结构与浅部构造上.本文注意到华北克拉通晚中生代岩石圈减薄期间地壳的伸展、拆离与减薄在不同地区的宏观、微观构造及地壳岩石流变学等方面的差异表现与区域变化,以及现今和晚中生代时期岩石圈厚度的不均匀性.讨论了以水为主体的地质流体的存在对于岩石圈流变性的影响.综合克拉通东部与西部地壳/地幔厚度变化特点以及下地壳和上地幔含水性特点,阐述了晚中生代时期华北克拉通岩石圈内部壳幔耦合与解耦的规律,提出了华北岩石圈壳-幔拆离作用模型以解释华北克拉通晚中生代岩石圈减薄的基本现象与深部过程.提出区域性伸展作用是岩石圈减薄的主要动力学因素,东部地区在晚中生代伸展作用过程中壳-幔具有典型的解耦性,上部地壳、下部地壳和岩石圈地幔的变形具有显著差异性.而西部区壳幔总体具有耦合性,下地壳与岩石圈地幔共同构成流变学强度很高且难以变形的岩石圈根.     

Global 1° × 1° thermal model TC1 for the continental lithosphere: Implications for lithosphere secular evolution

This paper reports a new 1° × 1° global thermal model for the continental lithosphere (TC1). Geotherms for continental terranes of different ages (> 3.6 Ga to present) constrained by reliable data on borehole heat flow measurements (Artemieva, I.M., Mooney, W.D. 2001. Thermal structure and evolution of Precambrian lithosphere: a global study. J. Geophys. Res 106, 16387–16414.), are statistically analyzed as a function of age and are used to estimate lithospheric temperatures in continental regions with no or low-quality heat flow data (ca. 60% of the continents). These data are supplemented by cratonic geotherms based on electromagnetic and xenolith data; the latter indicate the existence of Archean cratons with two characteristic thicknesses, ca. 200 and > 250 km. A map of tectono-thermal ages of lithospheric terranes complied for the continents on a 1° × 1° grid and combined with the statistical age relationship of continental geotherms (z = 0.04  t + 93.6, where z is lithospheric thermal thickness in km and t is age in Ma) formed the basis for a new global thermal model of the continental lithosphere (TC1). The TC1 model is presented by a set of maps, which show significant thermal heterogeneity within continental upper mantle, with the strongest lateral temperature variations (as large as 800 °C) in the shallow mantle. A map of the depth to a 550 °C isotherm (Curie isotherm for magnetite) in continental upper mantle is presented as a proxy to the thickness of the magnetic crust; the same map provides a rough estimate of elastic thickness of old (> 200 Ma) continental lithosphere, in which flexural rigidity is dominated by olivine rheology of the mantle.Statistical analysis of continental geotherms reveals that thick (> 250 km) lithosphere is restricted solely to young Archean terranes (3.0–2.6 Ga), while in old Archean cratons (3.6–3.0 Ga) lithospheric roots do not extend deeper than 200–220 km. It is proposed that the former were formed by tectonic stacking and underplating during paleocollision of continental nuclei; it is likely that such exceptionally thick lithospheric roots have a limited lateral extent and are restricted to paleoterrane boundaries. This conclusion is supported by an analysis of the growth rate of the lithosphere since the Archean, which does not reveal a peak in lithospheric volume at 2.7–2.6 Ga as expected from growth curves for juvenile crust.A pronounced peak in the rate of lithospheric growth (10–18 km³/year) at 2.1–1.7 Ga (as compared to 5–8 km³/year in the Archean) well correlates with a peak in the growth of juvenile crust and with a consequent global extraction of massif-type anorthosites. It is proposed that large-scale variations in lithospheric thickness at cratonic margins and at paleoterrane boundaries controlled anorogenic magmatism. In particular, mid-Proterozoic anorogenic magmatism at the cratonic margins was caused by edge-driven convection triggered by a fast growth of the lithospheric mantle at 2.1–1.7 Ga. Belts of anorogenic magmatism within cratonic interiors can be caused by a deflection of mantle heat by a locally thickened lithosphere at paleosutures and, thus, can be surface manifestations of exceptionally thick lithospheric roots. The present volume of continental lithosphere as estimated from the new global map of lithospheric thermal thickness is 27.8 (± 7.0) × 10⁹ km³ (excluding submerged terranes with continental crust); preserved continental crust comprises ca. 7.7 × 10⁹ km³. About 50% of the present continental lithosphere existed by 1.8 Ga.     

Volcanic passive margins

Compared to non-volcanic ones, volcanic passive margins mark continental break-up over a hotter mantle, probably subject to small-scale convection. They present distinctive genetic and structural features. High-rate extension of the lithosphere is associated with catastrophic mantle melting responsible for the accretion of a thick igneous crust. Distinctive structural features of volcanic margins are syn-magmatic and continentward-dipping crustal faults accommodating the seaward flexure of the igneous crust. Volcanic margins present along-axis a magmatic and tectonic segmentation with wavelength similar to adjacent slow-spreading ridges. Their 3D organisation suggests a connection between loci of mantle melting at depths and zones of strain concentration within the lithosphere. Break-up would start and propagate from localized thermally-softened lithospheric zones. These ‘soft points’ could be localized over small-scale convection cells found at the bottom of the lithosphere, where adiabatic mantle melting would specifically occur. The particular structure of the brittle crust at volcanic passive margins could be interpreted by active and sudden oceanward flow of both the unstable hot mantle and the ductile part of the lithosphere during the break-up stage. To cite this article: L. Geoffroy, C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).     

U–Pb SHRIMP zircon geochronology and T–t–d history of the Kampa Dome, southern Tibet

Structural, petrographic and geochronologic studies of the Kampa Dome provide insights into the tectonothermal evolution of orogenic crust exposed in the North Himalayan gneiss domes of southern Tibet. U–Pb ion microprobe dating of zircons from granite gneiss exposed at the deepest levels within the dome yields concordia ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U age populations of 506 ± 3 Ma and 527 ± 6 Ma, with no evidence of new zircon growth during Himalayan orogenesis. However, the granite contains penetrative deformation fabrics that are also preserved in the overlying Paleozoic strata, implying that the Kampa granite is a Cambrian pluton that was strongly deformed and metamorphosed during Himalayan orogenesis. Zircons from deformed leucogranite sills that cross-cut Paleozoic metasedimentary rocks yield concordant Cambrian ages from oscillatory zoned cores and discordant ages ranging from ca. 491–32 Ma in metamict grains. Since these leucogranites clearly post-date the metasedimentary rocks they intrude, the zircons are interpreted as xenocrysts that are probably derived from the Kampa granite. The Kampa Dome formed via a series of progressive orogenic events including regional ~ N–S contraction and related crustal thickening (D₁), predominately top-to-N ductile shearing and crustal extension (D₂), top-to-N brittle–ductile faulting and related folding on the north limb of the dome, localized top-to-S faulting on the southern limb of the dome, and crustal doming (D₃), and continued N–S contraction, E–W extension and doming (D₄). Structural and geochronologic variability amongst adjacent North Himalayan gneiss domes may reflect changes in the magnitude of crustal exhumation along the North Himalayan antiform, possibly relating to differences in the mid-crustal geometry of the exhuming fault systems.     

Brittle normal faulting in the highest-grade Sambagawa metamorphic rocks of central Shikoku, southwest Japan: Indication of the exhumation into the upper crustal level

Analysis of fault system in the high-P/T type Sambagawa metamorphic rocks of central Shikoku, southwest Japan, shows that conjugate normal faults pervasively developed in the highest-grade biotite zone (upper structural level) in three study areas (Asemi river, Oriu and Niihama areas). These conjugate normal faults consist of NE–SW to E–W striking and moderately north-dipping (set A), and NNW–SSE striking and moderately east dipping (set B) faults. The fault set A is dominant compared to the fault set B, and hence most of deformation is accommodated by the fault set A, leading to non-coaxial deformation. The sense of shear is inferred to be a top-to-the-WNW to NNW, based on the orientations of striation or quartz slickenfibre and dominant north-side down normal displacement. These transport direction by normal faulting is significantly different from that at D₁ penetrative ductile flow (i.e. top-to-the-W to WNW). It has also been found that these conjugate normal faults are openly folded during the D₃ phase about the axes trending NW–SE to E–W and plunging west at low-angles or horizontally, indicating that normal faulting occurred at the D₂ phase. D₂ normal faults, along which actinolite breccia derived from serpentinite by metasomatism sometimes occurs, perhaps formed under subgreenschist conditions (ca. 250 °C) in relation to the final exhumation of Sambagawa metamorphic rocks into the upper crustal level. The pervasive development of D₂ normal faults in the upper structural level suggests that the final exhumation of Sambagawa metamorphic rocks could be caused by “distributed extension and normal faulting (removal of overburden)” in the upper crust.     

The effect of decomposition of hydrous minerals on the mechanical properties of rocks at high pressures and temperatures

Extensive experiments have been carried out in which specimens of gypsum, a partially serpentinized peridotite, a serpentinite and a chloritite have been subjected to pressures up to 0.662 GPa together with temperatures up to 780°C and have been deformed at a fixed strain rate of 10⁻⁵/s. The commencement of decomposition of the hydrous minerals is accompanied in sealed specimens by loss of strength, a reduction in sliding friction, and embrittlement of the rocks. Dilatancy-hardening effects are observed. Specimens which are drained to the atmosphere remain strong. In gypsum there is a ten-fold reduction in strength between temperatures of 50°C and 150°C. The partially serpentinized peridotite (40% forsterite, 60% antigorite) which contains 1% of brucite shows a reduction in strength 50% at 300°C, followed by a further ten-fold reduction between 300°C and 700°C. The serpentinite (90% lizardite and chrysotile) shows a ten-fold reduction in strength between 400°C and 600°C. The chloritite (85% ripidolite) shows a reduction of strength by about a half at 300°C; the strength remains approximately constant between 300°C and 600°C, and there is a further five-fold reduction in strength between 600°C and 700°C. The phase changes in the hydrous minerals have been studied by means of differential thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction and optical microscopy, and will be more fully described elsewhere. A detailed discussion is given of the deformation characteristics and mechanisms, with particular emphasis on the role of pore pressure and dilatancy. There is a range of temperature for each of these rocks in which the deformation of sealed samples is most stable, in the sense that brittle faulting accompanied by a stress-drop does not occur. At higher temperatures the rocks become unstable and very weak. Under conditions corresponding to geothermal gradients between 5 K km⁻¹ and 100 K km⁻¹ these rocks would be brittle and weak at shallow depths, and would again become brittle and weak at depths below some level which depends on the rock. Possible implications are discussed in connection with faulting and earthquakes, with syntectonic metamorphism, and with the emplacement of Alpine-type peridotites.     

Modelling the extension of heterogeneous hot lithosphere

The consequences of weak heterogeneities in the extension of soft and hot lithosphere without significant previous crustal thickening has been analysed in a series of centrifuge models. The experiments examined the effects of i) the location of heterogeneities in the ductile crust and/or in the lithospheric mantle, and ii) their orientation, perpendicular or oblique to the direction of bulk extension. The observed deformation patterns are all relevant to the so-called “wide rifting” mode of extension. Weak zones located in the ductile crust exert a more pronounced influence on localisation of deformation in the brittle layer than those located in the lithospheric mantle: the former localise faulting in the brittle crust whereas the latter tend to distribute faulting over a wider area. This latter behaviour depends in turn upon the decoupling provided by the ductile crust. Localised thinning in the brittle crust is accompanied by ductile doming of both crust and mantle. Domains of maximum thinning in the brittle crust and ductile crust and mantle are in opposition. Lateral differences in brittle crust thinning are accommodated by lateral flow in the ductile crust and mantle. This contrasts with “cold and strong” lithospheres whose high strength sub-Moho mantle triggers a necking instability at the lithosphere-scale. This also differs from the extension of thickened hot and soft lithospheres whose ductile crust is thick enough to give birth to metamorphic core complexes. Thus, for the given lithospheric rheology, the models have relevance to backarc type extensional systems, such as the Aegean and the Tyrrhenian domains.     

Alpine and Pacific styles of Phanerozoic mountain building: subduction-zone petrogenesis of continental crust

A broad continuum exists between two distinct end-member types of mountain building. Alpine-type orogenic belts develop during subduction of an ocean basin between two continental blocks, resulting in collision. They are characterized by an imbricate sequence of oceanward verging nappes; some Alpine belts exhibit superimposed late-stage backthrusting. Sediments are chiefly platform carbonates and siliciclastics, in some cases associated with minor amounts of bimodal volcanics; pre-existing granitic gneisses and related continental rocks constitute an autochthonous–parautochthonous basement. Metamorphism of deeply subducted portions of the orogen ranges from relatively high-pressure (HP) to ultrahigh-pressure (UHP). Calcalkaline volcanic–plutonic rocks are rare, and have peraluminous, S-type bulk compositions. In contrast, Pacific-type orogens develop within and landward from long-sustained oceanic subduction zones. They consist of an outboard oceanic trench–accretionary prism, and an inboard continental margin–island arc. The oceanic assemblage consists of first-cycle, in-part mélanged volcaniclastics, and minor but widespread cherts ± deep-water carbonates, intimately mixed with disaggregated ophiolites. The section recrystallized under HP conditions. Recumbent fold vergence is oceanward. A massive, slightly older to coeval calcalkaline arc is sited landward from the trench complex on the stable, non-subducted plate. It consists of abundant, dominantly intermediate, metaluminous, I-type volcanics resting on old crust; both assemblages are thrown into open folds, intruded by comagmatic I-type granitoids, and metamorphosed locally to regionally under high-T, low-P conditions. In the subduction channel of collisional and outboard Circumpacific terranes, combined extension above and subduction below allows buoyancy-driven ascent of ductile, thin-aspect ratio slices of HP–UHP complexes to midcrustal levels, where most closely approached neutral buoyancy; exposure of rising sheets caused by erosion and gravitational collapse results in moderate amounts of sedimentary debris because exhumed sialic slivers are of modest volume. At massive sialic buildups associated with convergent plate cuSPS (syntaxes), tectonic aneurysms may help transport HP–UHP complexes from mid- to upper-crustal levels. The closure of relatively small ocean basins that typify many intracratonic suture zones provides only limited production of intermediate and silicic melts, so volcanic–plutonic belts are poorly developed in Alpine orogens compared with Circumpacific convergent plate junctions. Generation of a calcalkaline arc mainly depends on volatile evolution at the depth of magma generation. Phase equilibrium studies show that, under typical subduction-zone P–T trajectories, clinoamphibole ± Ca–Al hydrous silicates constitute the major hydroxyl-bearing phases in deep-seated metamorphic rocks of MORB composition; other hydrous minerals are of minor abundance. Ca and Na clinoamphiboles dehydrate at pressures of above approximately 2 GPa, but low-temperature devolatilization may be delayed by pressure overstepping; thus metabasaltic blueschists and amphibolites expel H₂O at melt-generation depths, and commonly achieve stable eclogitic assemblages. Partly serpentinized mantle beneath the oceanic crust dehydrates at roughly comparable conditions. For reasonable subduction-zone geothermal gradients however, white micas ± biotites remain stable to pressures >3 GPa. Accordingly, attending descent to depths of >100 km, mica-rich quartzofeldspathic lithologies that constitute much of the continental crust fail to evolve substantial amounts of H₂O, and transform incompletely to stable eclogite-facies assemblages. Underflow of amphibolitized oceanic lithosphere thus generates most of the deep-seated volatile flux, and the consequent partial melting to produce the calcalkaline suite, along and above a subduction zone; where large volumes of micaceous intermediate and felsic crustal materials are carried down to great depths, volatile flux severely diminishes. Thus, continental collision in general does not produce a volcanic–plutonic arc whereas in contrast, the long-continued contemporaneous underflow of oceanic lithosphere does.     

Ordovician igneous and metamorphic units in southeastern Puna: New U–Pb and Sm–Nd data and implications for the evolution of northwestern Argentina

New field, petrological, geochemical, and geochronological data (U–Pb and Sm–Nd) for Ordovician rock units in the southeastern Puna, NW Argentina, indicate two lithostratigraphic units at the eastern–northeastern border of salar Centenario: (1) a bimodal volcanosedimentary sequence affected by low- to medium-grade metamorphism, comprising metasediments associated with basic and felsic metavolcanic rocks, dated 485 ± 5 Ma, and (2) a plutonic unit composed of syenogranites to quartz-rich leucogranites with U–Pb zircon ages between 462 ± 7 and 475 ± 5 Ma. Felsic metavolcanic and plutonic rocks are peraluminous and show similar geochemical differentiation trends. They also have similar Sm–Nd isotopic compositions (T_DM model ages of 1.54–1.78 Ga; ε_Nd(T) values ranging from −3.2 to −7.5) that suggest a common origin and derivation of the original magmas from older (Meso-Paleoproterozoic?) continental crust. Mafic rocks show ε_Nd(T) ranging from +2.3 to +2.5, indicating a depleted mantle source. The data presented here, combined with those in the literature, suggest Ordovician magmatism mainly recycles preexisting crust with minor additions of juvenile mantle-derived material.     

Strontium and oxygen isotopic variations in Mesozoic and Tertiary plutons of central Idaho

Regional variations in initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (r _i) of Mesozoic plutons in central Idaho locate the edge of Precambrian continental crust at the boundary between the late Paleozoic-Mesozoic accreted terranes and Precambrian sialic crust in western Idaho. The r _i values increase abruptly but continuously from less than 0.704 in the accreted terranes to greater than 0.708 across a narrow, 5 to 15 km zone, characterized by elongate, lens-shaped, highly deformed plutons and schistose metasedimentary and metavolcanic units. The chemical and petrologic character of the plutons changes concomitantly from ocean-arc-type, diorite-tonalite-trondhjemite units to a weakly peraluminous, calcic to calcalkalic tonalite-granodiorite-granite suite (the Idaho batholith). Plutons in both suites yield Late Cretaceous ages, but Permian through Early Cretaceous bodies are confined to the accreted terranes and early Tertiary intrusions are restricted to areas underlain by Precambrian crust. The two major terranes were juxtaposed between 75 and 130 m.y. ago, probably between 80 and 95 m.y. Oxygen and strontium isotopic ratios and Rb and Sr concentrations of the plutonic rocks document a significant upper-crustal contribution to the magmas that intrude Precambrian crust. Magmas intruding the arc terranes were derived from the upper mantle/subducted oceanic lithosphere and may have been modified by anatexis of earlier island-arc volcanic and sedimentary units. Plutons near the edge of Precambrian sialic crust represent simple mixtures of the Precambrian wall-rocks with melts derived from the upper mantle or subducted oceanic lithosphere with r _i of 0.7035. Rb/Sr varies linearly with r _i, producing “pseudoisochrons” with apparent “ages” close to the age of the wall rocks. Measured δ ¹⁸O values of the wall rocks are less than those required for the assimilated end-member by Sr-O covariation in the plutons, however, indicating that wall-rock δ ¹⁸O was reduced significantly by exchange with circulating fluids. Metasedimentary rocks of the Belt Supergroup are similarly affected near the batholith, documenting a systematic depletion in ¹⁸O as much as 50 km from the margin of the batholith. Plutons of the Bitterroot lobe of the Idaho batholith are remote from the accreted terranes and represent mixtures of Precambrian wall-rocks with melts dominated by continental lower crust (r _i>0.708) rather than mantle. “Pseudoisochrons” resulting from these data are actually mixing lines that yield apparent “ages” less than the true age of the wall rocks and meaningless “r_i”. Assimilation/ fractional-crystallization models permit only insignificant amounts of crystal fractionation during anatexis and mixing for the majority of plutons of the region.     

3-D crustal structure of the extensional Granada Basin in the convergent boundary between the Eurasian and African plates

Three-dimensional P and S wave velocity models of the crust under the Granada Basin in Southern Spain are obtained with a spatial resolution of 5 km in the horizontal direction and 2 to 4 km in depth. We used a total of 15407 P and 13704 S wave high-quality arrival times from 2889 local earthquakes recorded by both permanent seismic networks and portable stations deployed in the area. The computed P and S wave velocities were used to obtain three-dimensional distributions of Poisson's ratio (σ) and the porosity parameter (V_p×V_s). The 3-D velocity images show strong lateral heterogeneities in the region. Significant velocity variations up to ±7% in P and S velocities are revealed in the crust below the Granada Basin. At shallow depth, high-velocity anomalies are generally associated with Mesozoic basement, while the low-velocity anomalies are related to the neogene sedimentary rocks. The south–southeastern part of the Granada Basin exhibits high σ values in the shallowest layers, which may be associated with saturated and unconsolidated sediments. In the same area, V_p×V_s is high outside the basin, indicating low porosity of the mesozoic basement. A low-velocity zone at 18-km depth is found and interpreted as a weak–ductile crust transition that is related to the cut-off depth of the seismic activity. In the lower crust, at 34-km depth, a clear slow V_p and V_s anomalous zone may indicate variations in lithology and/or with the rigidity of the lower crust rocks.     

大陆中部地壳应变局部化与应变弱化

大陆岩石圈流变学研究是构造地质学学科发展的必然,也是发展板块构造理论、探索大陆板块内部变形与动力学演化的核心问题。大陆中部地壳是大陆岩石圈中一个具有特殊性的圈层,其主要成分以花岗质岩石为代表,位于岩石脆-韧性转变域。在中部地壳层次上,岩石既具有脆性变形特点,又具有韧性变形属性,而且常常表现出多种流变强度。研究成果显示,中部地壳岩石流变具有许多特殊性：1）应变局部化是中部地壳流动最为典型表现形式;2）存在大陆地壳多震层：多震与强震,显示出中部地壳既弱又强的流变学属性;3）液/岩反应强烈,流体相直接影响着岩石的流变性;4）在许多地区存在有地球物理异常体（低速高导体）。大陆中部地壳应变局部化是板块相互作用过程中地壳层次上应变积累与集中的重要表现。在宏观尺度、中小型尺度和微观尺度上都有着重要的构造特点。地壳岩石的应变弱化,是诱发应变局部化的主要机制。多种形式的水致弱化（包括液压致裂、反应弱化、水解弱化等）与结构弱化（包括细粒化、晶格取向、成分分带性等）对于应变局部化具有重要的贡献。大陆地壳岩石流变学、中部地壳弱化与应变局部化研究,是未来岩石圈流变学研究的重要方向。

     

Tectonic controls on metamorphism, partial melting, and intrusion: timing and duration of regional metamorphism and magmatism in the Ni de Massif, Turkey

Mafic high-pressure granulite, eclogite and pyroxenite xenoliths have been collected from a Mesozoic volcaniclastic diatreme in Xinyang, near south margin of the Sino-Korean Craton (SKC). The high-pressure granulite xenoliths are mainly composed of fine-grained granoblasts of Grt+Cpx+Pl+Hbl±Kfs±Q±Ilm with relict porphyritic mineral assemblage of Grt+Cpx±Pl±Rt. P–T estimation indicates that the granoblastic assemblage crystallized at 765–890 °C and 1.25–1.59 GPa, corresponding to crustal depths of ca. 41–52 km with a geotherm of 75–80 mW/m². Calculated seismic velocities (V_p) of high-pressure granulites range from 7.04 to 7.56 km/s and densities (D) from 3.05 to 3.30 g/cm³. These high-pressure granulite xenoliths have different petrographic and geochemical features from the Archean mafic granulites. Elevated geotherm and petrographic evidence imply that the lithosphere of this craton was thermally disturbed in the Mesozoic prior to eruption of the host diatreme. These samples have sub-alkaline basaltic compositions, equivalent to olivine– and quartz–tholeiite. REE patterns are flat to variably LREE-enriched (La_N/Yb_N=0.98–9.47) without Eu anomaly (Eu/Eu*=0.95–1.11). They possess 48–127 ppm Ni and 2–20 ppm Nb with Nb/U and La/Nb ratios of 13–54 and 0.93–4.75, respectively, suggesting that these high-pressure granulites may be products of mantle-derived magma underplated and contaminated at the base of the lower crust. This study also implies that up to 10 km Mesozoic lowermost crust was delaminated prior to eruption of the Cenozoic basalts on the craton.     

Seismotectonics of strike–slip earthquakes within the deep crust of southern Italy: Geometry, kinematics, stress field and crustal rheology of the Potenza 1990–1991 seismic sequences (Mmax 5.7)

We present a revision and a seismotectonic interpretation of deep crust strike–slip earthquake sequences that occurred in 1990–1991 in the Southern Apennines (Potenza area). The revision is motivated by: i) the striking similarity to a seismic sequence that occurred in 2002  140 km NNW, in an analogous tectonic context (Molise area), suggesting a common seismotectonic environment of regional importance; ii) the close proximity of such deep strike–slip seismicity with shallow extensional seismicity (Apennine area); and iii) the lack of knowledge about the mechanical properties of the crust that might justify the observed crustal seismicity. A comparison between the revised 1990–1991 earthquakes and the 2002 earthquakes, as well as the integration of seismological data with a rheological analysis offer new constraints on the regional seismotectonic context of crustal seismicity in the Southern Apennines. The seismological revision consists of a relocation of the aftershock sequences based on newly constrained velocity models. New focal mechanisms of the aftershocks are computed and the active state of stress is constrained via the use of a stress inversion technique. The relationships among the observed seismicity, the crustal structure of the Southern Apennines, and the rheological layering are analysed along a crustal section crossing southern Italy, by computing geotherms and two-mechanism (brittle frictional vs. ductile plastic strength) rheological profiles. The 1990–1991 seismicity is concentrated in a well-defined depth range (mostly between 15 and 23 km depths). This depth range corresponds to the upper pat of the middle crust underlying the Apulian sedimentary cover, in the footwall of the easternmost Apennine thrust system. The 3D distribution of the aftershocks, the fault kinematics, and the stress inversion indicate the activation of a right-lateral strike–slip fault striking N100°E under a stress field characterized by a sub-horizontal N142°-trending σ1 and a sub-horizontal N232°-trending σ3, very similar to the known stress field of the Gargano seismic zone in the Apulian foreland. The apparent anomalous depths of the earthquakes (> 15 km) and the confinement within a relatively narrow depth range are explained by the crustal rheology, which consists of a strong brittle layer at mid crustal depths sandwiched between two plastic horizons. This articulated rheological stratification is typical of the central part of the Southern Apennine crust, where the Apulian crust is overthrusted by Apennine units. Both the Potenza 1990–1991 and the Molise 2002 seismic sequences can be interpreted to be due to crustal E–W fault zones within the Apulian crust inherited from previous tectonic phases and overthrusted by Apennine units during the Late Pliocene–Middle Pleistocene. The present strike–slip tectonic regime reactivated these fault zones and caused them to move with an uneven mechanical behaviour; brittle seismogenic faulting is confined to the strong brittle part of the middle crust. This strong brittle layer might also act as a stress guide able to laterally transmit the deviatoric stresses responsible for the strike–slip regime in the Apulian crust and may explain the close proximity (nearly overlapping) of the strike–slip and normal faulting regimes in the Southern Apennines. From a methodological point of view, it seems that rather simple two-mechanism rheological profiles, though affected by uncertainties, are still a useful tool for estimating the rheological properties and likely seismogenic behaviour of the crust.     

Mechanisms of continental crust formation in the Central Asian Foldbelt

Geological and isotopic study of rocks occurring in the Early and Late Baikalian, Caledonian, Hercynian, and Indosinian fold regions of Central Asia is carried out. The juvenile crust formation occurred in these fold regions have determined the systematic differences in isotopic compositions of the crust. In the course of the subsequent (postaccretion) evolution, the crust of these domains underwent multiple reworking. These processes were accompanied by variations in the Nd isotopic compositions of the crust, which, in turn, are recorded in the isotopic compositions of granites and felsic volcanics as products of crust melting. Three types of crust differing in Nd isotopic composition and structure and, as a consequence, in formation mechanisms, are distinguished. The isotopically homogeneous crust is a source of igneous rocks with constant model Nd isotopic age (T_Nd(DM2st)) irrespective of the age of the crustal igneous rocks. These are the isotopic provinces, the crust of which remained isolated from addition of alien materials during postaccretion evolution. The axial zone of the Hercynides in the Central Asian Foldbelt is an example. The isotopically heterogeneous layered crust consists of fragments differing in isotopic composition. The products of its melting are characterized by widely scattered ɛ_Nd(T) and (T_Nd(DM2st). The appearance of alien sources of melt is considered in terms of underplating. This mechanism develops either due to subduction of the juvenile oceanic lithosphere beneath the mature continental lithosphere at convergent boundaries or as a result of plume-lithosphere interaction. The first mechanism operated during the formation of granitoids pertaining to the Tuva-Mongolia microcontinent. The second mechanism was responsible for the formation of batholiths in the zonal Hangay, Barguzin, and Mongolia-Transbaikalia magmatic fields. The isotopically heterogeneous mixed crust is composed of fragments differing in isotopic composition, which are tectonically mixed, resulting in the formation of an isotopically uniform reservoir in the domain of magma generation. As a result, the products of melting acquire isotopic parameters substantially distinct from the juvenile rocks of the corresponding structural zone. The formation of such a crust is related to the tectonic delamination, which provides for juxtaposition and a high degree of tectonic mingling of heterogeneous fragments at deep levels. The Caledonides of the Central Asian Foldbelt are characterized by such a mechanism of crust formation.