Contrasting tonalite genesis in the Lyngen magmatic complex, north Norwegian Caledonides

The Lyngen gabbro (LG), defining the major part of the Lyngen magmatic complex, is characterised by layered gabbros of N-MORB affinity (western suite) and layered gabbronorites, quartz-bearing gabbros and diorites/quartz-diorites of IAT (island-arc tholeiite) to boninitic affinity (eastern suite). The boundary between the eastern and western suites is generally defined by a large-scale ductile shear zone of suboceanic origin, the Rypdalen shear zone (RSZ). Tonalites occur within the RSZ and in the eastern suite of the LG. Variations in field occurrence and chemical composition of the tonalites suggest that they represent two petrologically different groups. Tonalite intrusion (the Vakkas pluton) up to 5 km² large occur in the eastern suite of the LG, and are characterised by high Y contents (average 26 ppm) and high K₂O/Rb ratios (average 0.062) compared to tonalites on the RSZ. The Vakkas pluton has lightly concave REE (rare earth element) patterns with negative Eu-anomalies, and positive _ND-values (+3.7 to +3.9). Geochemical modelling based on the REE and field evidence suggests that these tonalites may have formed by fractional crystallization from a boninitic parental magma. Tonalites related to the RSZ form irregular veins and dikes that net vein the shear zone. They are characterised by low Y contents (average 6 ppm), low K₂O/Rb ratios (average 0.025), and highly variable contents of Na₂O, K₂O, Sr and Ba, compared to the Vakkas pluton. Tonalites related to the RSZ show substantial variation in the content of the LREEs. They possess low abundances of the HREEs, and absence of, or slightly positive Eu-anomalies. The tonalites have highly variable _ND-values (−0.6 to −9.4), probably resulting from enrichment of Nd from an external source. Geochemical modelling suggests that the LREE-rich tonalites formed by H₂O-rich partial melting of differentiated products from the eastern suite of the LG. The presence of B in the fluid phase is suggested by the presence of tourmaline-bearing tonalite pegmatites. Thus, the anatectic tonalites of this group could have been formed by water-excess melting of a variety of gabbroic cumulates of the LG. In the LG, LREE-depleted tonalites (_ND-values +5.1) also occur, and these are best explained in terms of partial melting of gabbroic cumulates from the transition zone between the eastern and the western suites of the LG.     

Magma development of the Leka Ophiolite Complex, central Norwegian Caledonides

The magmatic products of the Leka Ophiolite Complex of Lower Ordovician age, indicate formation in different tectonic settings and generation from different mantle sources. Harzburgites of the mantle tectonite, clinopyroxenes from wehrlites of the ultramafic cumulates, the metabasalts of the dyke complex and earliest pillow lavas (IAT/MORB, boninites) all show characteristics compatible with formation above a subduction zone in an intra-oceanic setting. Nd-isotopes indicate that some of the IAT and boninites may have been derived from a source contaminated by continental material, and a CAB source differ significantly from that of the IAT and boninites. The later pillow lavas of MORB composition show only minor influence of subduction-related processes (minor or no negative Ta-anomalies), and the supposed latest volcanic sequence of an alkaline OIB-type, none at all. The MORB- and OIB-type magmas are thought developed by spreading in a back-arc setting, in which the latter magma type developed in a remote position from the subduction zone.     

Geochemical stratigraphy of the lavas of the Solund-Stavfjord Ophiolite Complex,W. Norway,and magma-chamber dynamics

Bulletin of Volcanology - The stratigraphy and geochemistry of the uppermost 200–300&;nbsp;m of the metabasalt sequence of the Solund-Stavfjord Ophiolite Complex of western Norway has been...     

Tectonic control of bioalteration in modern and ancient oceanic crust as evidenced by carbon isotopes

Abstract We review the carbon‐isotope data for finely disseminated carbonates from bioaltered, glassy pillow rims of basaltic lava flows from in situ slow‐ and intermediate‐spreading oceanic crust of the central Atlantic Ocean (CAO) and the Costa Rica Rift (CRR). The δ¹³C values of the bioaltered glassy samples from the CAO show a large range, between ?17 and +3‰ (Vienna Peedee belemnite standard), whereas those from the CRR define a much narrower range, between ?17‰ and ?7‰. This variation can be interpreted as the product of different microbial metabolisms during microbial alteration of the glass. In the present study, the generally low δ¹³C values (less than ?7‰) are attributed to carbonate precipitated from microbially produced CO₂ during oxidation of organic matter. Positive δ¹³C values >0‰ likely result from lithotrophic utilization of CO₂ by methanogenic Archaea that produce CH₄ from H₂ and CO₂. High production of H₂ at the slow‐spreading CAO crust may be a consequence of fault‐bounded, high‐level serpentinized peridotites near or on the sea floor, in contrast to the CRR crust, which exhibits a layer‐cake pseudostratigraphy with much less faulting and supposedly less H₂ production. A comparison of the δ¹³C data from glassy pillow margins in two ophiolites interpreted to have formed at different spreading rates supports this interpretation. The Jurassic Mirdita ophiolite complex in Albania shows a structural architecture similar to that of the slow‐spreading CAO crust, with a similar range in δ¹³C values of biogenic carbonates. The Late Ordvician Solund–Stavfjord ophiolite complex in western Norway exhibits structural and geochemical evidence for evolution at an intermediate‐spreading mid‐ocean ridge and displays δ¹³C signatures in biogenic carbonates similar to those of the CRR. Based on the results of this comparative study, it is tentatively concluded that the spreading rate‐dependent tectonic evolution of oceanic lithosphere has a significant control on the evolution of microbial life and hence on the δ¹³C biosignatures preserved in disseminated biogenic carbonates in glassy, bioaltered lavas.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987114000243

We combine a geological, geochemical and tectonic dataset from 118 ophiolite complexes of the major global Phanerozoic orogenic belts with similar datasets of ophiolites from 111 Precambrian greenstone belts to construct an overview of oceanic crust generation over 4 billion years. Geochemical discrimi- nation systematics built on immobile trace elements reveal that the basaltic units of the Phanerozoic ophiolites are dominantly subduction-related （75%）, linked to backarc processes and characterized by a strong MORB component, similar to ophiolites in Precambrian greenstone sequences （85%）. The remaining 25% Phanerozoic subduction-unrelated ophiolites are mainly （74%） of Mid-Ocean-Ridge type （MORB type）, in contrast to the equal proportion of RiftlContinental Margin, Plume, and MORB type ophiolites in the Precambrian greenstone belts. Throughout the Phanerozoic there are large geochemical variations in major and trace elements, but for average element values calculated in 5 bins of 100 million year intervals there are no obvious secular trends. By contrast, basaltic units in the ophiolites of the Precambrian greenstones （calculated in 12 bins of 250 million years intervals）, starting in late Paleo- to early Mesoproterozoic （ca. 2.0-1.8 Ga）, exhibit an apparent decrease in the average values of incom- patible elements such as Ti, P, Zr, Y and Nb, and an increase in the compatible elements Ni and Cr with deeper time to the end of the Archean and into the Hadean. These changes can be attributed to decreasing degrees of partial melting of the upper mantle from HadeanJArchean to Present. The onset of geochemical changes coincide with the timing of detectible changes in the structural architecture of the ophiolites such as greater volumes of gabbro and more common sheeted dyke complexes, and lesser occurrences of ocelli （varioles） in the pillow lavas in ophiolites younger than 2 Ga. The global data from the Precambrian ophiolites, representative of nearly 50% of all known worldwide greenston     

Geochemistry of Pan-African volcanic arc sequences in southeastern Sinai Peninsula and plate tectonic implications

Major and trace elements of lavas, dykes and plutonic rocks of the late Proterozoic orogenic sequence in SE Sinai, the Kid Group, have been analysed. The dykes and lavas of the southermost sequences, the Tarr Complex and Heib Formation, are calc-alkaline, whereas the lavas of the Malhak Formation and the Sharira Gabbro (to the north of the Heib Formation) show both calc-alkaline and tholeiitic trends. The trace element characteristics of the Tarr Complex and the Heib and Malhak Formations, despite between-sequence variations, are all comparable with ensialic island arc magmatism, whereas the Sharira Gabbro shows some MORB characteristics in addition to the island arc imprints. The Sharira Gabbro and the lavas of the Malhak Formation possibly formed in a developing back-arc basin behind a continental-marginal ensialic island arc (the Tarr Complex and Heib Formation). During the Pan-African orogeny, the constituent units of the Kid Group were mutually juxtaposed along major ductile shear zones of thrust-fault character. This plate-convergence regime involved initial magmatic arc development following northward subduction, and subsequent collision between the arc complex and the Proterozoic continental margin.     

Quaternary tephrachronology on the Iceland Plateau,north of Iceland

Four major ash zones recorded in piston cores raised from the Iceland Plateau north of Iceland are shown to be coincident with the last four interglacial isotopic stages. Their geochemical composition links the ashes to volcanic events on Iceland. The occurrence of these ash layers, which record events orders of magnitude larger than the ‘normal’ Holocene volcanic eruptions, can not be explained by changes in sea ice cover and atmospheric circulation alone. It is suggested that these events are related to pressure releases in the magma chambers resulting from major deglaciations of the Icelandic Ice Cap.     

A Younger Dryas Ash Bed in western Norway,and its possible correlations with tephra in cores from the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic

A bed of volcanic ash up to 23 cm thick is found in lacustrine and marine sediments in western Norway. It is formally mamed the Vedde Ash Bed, and its age is approximately 10,600 yr B.P., i.e., mid-Younger Dryas. The bed consits of pure glass having a bimodal basaltic and rhyolitic somposition. The geochemistry of the glass shards suggests an Icelandic source. By means of stratigraphic position and geochemistry, the ash is correlated with ash zones found in cores from the continental shelf, the Norwegian Sea, and the North Atlatic.     

A three-dimensional numerical sea model with eddy viscosity varying piecewise linearly in the vertical

The solution of the three-dimensional linear hydrodynamic equations which describe wind-driven flow in a homogeneous sea are solved using the eigenfunction method. The eddy viscosity is taken to vary piecewise linearly in the vertical over an arbitrary number of layers. Using this formulation the eigenfunctions are given in terms of Bessel functions. The coefficients of integration as well as the eigenvalues are determined accurately such that the boundary conditions are satisfied. Values of the eigenfunctions at any depth can then be determined very fast and to a high degree of accuracy.Current profiles at any position can hence be computed accurately. The expansion of the horizontal component of current converges very fast at all depths.